sə-ˈnȯr-əs
S. H. Adams
Did you know?
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, is it sonorous? Don’t be thrown off by the subtle tweak in this classic conundrum—which usually ends with “does it make a sound?”—it’s still the same question. Sonorous, in its oldest sense, simply describes things that make a sound when struck (the word’s Latin ancestor, sonorus, is related to sonus, meaning “sound”). By this definition, felled firs, windblown willows, etc., are all sonorous. A desktop tapped by a pencil eraser wouldn’t normally be described as sonorous, however. The word is usually reserved for things that make a deep, loud, booming, or echoing sound—think timpanis (or toppling timber), not tables. Sonorous is also frequently used to describe sounds themselves, as well as voices, that are deep, loud, and pleasant. And as sonorous sounds often cause one to sit up and take notice, sonorous can also mean “imposing or impressive in effect or style,” as when describing particularly affecting speech or prose.
Examples of sonorous in a Sentence
Randy Myers, Mercury News, 13 May 2026
Metals are particularly sonorous, as anyone who has been around toddlers (and pots and pans) can testify.
—New Atlas, 2 May 2026
Cloudy, reverberating bass mingles with sonorous, textural guitar loops courtesy of Mark Clifford, while Sarah Peacock’s spellbinding vocals ooze over the mix.
—Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 1 May 2026
The Ballet Orchestra, close to wrapping its 50th anniversary season, sounded especially sonorous in the score’s horn passages.
—Rachel Howard, San Francisco Chronicle, 11 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for sonorous
Cite this Entry
“Sonorous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sonorous. Accessed 12 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
sonorous
adjective
-ˈnȯr-
