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A sonic boom is an explosive sound created by a shock wave formed at the nose of an aircraft. In 1947 a plane piloted by Chuck Yeager burst the "sound barrier" and created the first sonic boom. In the decades afterward sonic booms became a familiar sound to Americans. (Because of steps that were eventually taken, sonic booms are rarely heard anymore.) Today sonic is often used by ambitious rock musicians to describe their experimental sounds.
Examples of sonic in a Sentence
Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 23 Apr. 2024
Bob Heil’s career as a groundbreaking sound engineer who brought thunder and rich sonic coloring to tours by rock titans like the Grateful Dead and the Who began behind a pipe organ in a 1920s movie palace.
—Alex Williams, New York Times, 22 Apr. 2024
The song is actually about how Swift can never find peace—and how her romantic partners can’t, either—which makes for an interesting sonic juxtaposition.
—The New Yorker, 19 Apr. 2024
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This suction vibrator has a long mouth that fits around the head of the clit and stimulates it with sonic airwaves that dial up from gentle to rumbly and intense (without actually touching you).
—Amanda Chatel, Glamour, 19 Apr. 2024
An optional Find Your Equalizer feature builds a custom sonic profile based on a series of tests.
—PCMAG, 11 Apr. 2024
What is most noticeable, listening to their collaborations, is that the essential Khruangbin-ness of their sound is impossible to dispel — even their more famous collaborators get gathered into the band’s sonic world.
—Ryan Bradley MacLeod Andrews Emma Kehlbeck Quinton Kamara, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2024
Blurring the lines between psychedelic rock, funk, soul and surf rock, the Texas trio’s mostly instrumental jams are best described as sonic comfort.
—Vanessa Franko, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2024
As such, this list features a variety of sonic profiles and influences that fall under the R&B umbrella, with multiple entries from artists like Beyoncé, The Internet, Jazmine Sullivan, Steve Lacy, Summer Walker, Masego, Lucky Daye, Brent Faiyaz, SZA, Jhene Aiko, and Frank Ocean, among others.
—Rivea Ruff, Essence, 9 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sonic.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near sonic
Cite this Entry
“Sonic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sonic. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.
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sonic
adjective
Medical Definition
sonic
adjective
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