sound effects

plural noun

|Updated on: 10 Jun 2018

Definition of sound effects

: effects that are imitative of sounds called for in the script of a dramatic production (such as a radio show) and that enhance the production's illusion of reality

Recent Examples of sound effects from the Web

The entire five-minute performance featured loud explosions and sound effects of gunfire.

— andrew o'reilly, Fox News, "Gaza preschoolers seen performing mock execution of Israeli soldier," 3 June 2018
In a movie without much spoken dialogue or loud sound effects, the quiet becomes loud and the loud becomes ear-piercing.

— todd vanderwerff, Vox, "A Quiet Place’s sound designers on building its very loud silence," 26 May 2018
The soundtrack, in which dialogue is subsumed by sound effects, is a masterful piece of musique concrete; Tati rerecorded and embellished it in 1961.

— patrick friel, Chicago Reader, "Architecture / Film / Foreign / On Video Check in, then check out these five iconic hotel movies," 16 May 2018
Zimmerman would call and play recordings of police sirens, music boxes and the speeding tick-tock sound effect time bombs make in movies, Warren said.

— gal tziperman lotan, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Judge denies restraining order against George Zimmerman sought by private investigator," 14 May 2018
The soundtrack is composed of sound effects and Akerman’s incessant singing/humming, what the French call the little song that makes life go on.

— mark swed, latimes.com, "Music goes multimedia, but why? Three concerts point the way," 25 Apr. 2018
Sound mixing is the art of adjusting various tracks — the score, the dialogue, the incidental music, the sound effects, etc.

— eliza thompson, Cosmopolitan, "All the Oscars Predictions You Need to Win Your Party Pool This Year," 22 Feb. 2018
Why do moviemakers think that adding silly sound effects make their futuristic machines more rather than less plausible?

— david pogue, Scientific American, "How Well Do Movies Predict Our Tech Future?," 1 Jan. 2018
In addition to reading the questions, the skill lets the birthday celebrant rate the answers and offer sound effects (crowd cheers, annoying buzzers and the like) based on the rating.

— aaron pressman, Fortune, "5 Cool Things You Can Do With Amazon Alexa's Customizable Skills," 19 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sound effects.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.