sound off

verb

sounded off; sounding off; sounds off

intransitive verb

1

: to play three chords before and after marching up and down a line of troops during a ceremonial parade or formal guard mount

2

: to count cadence while marching

3

a

: to speak up in a loud voice

b

: to voice one's opinions freely and vigorously

Synonyms

• speak out
• shout
• cry
• pipe up
• speak up
• yell
• talk up
• shoot
• speak one's mind
• spout (off)
• call

Examples of sound off in a Sentence

she never missed a chance to sound off about the latest “stupid” political decisions

the guard captain commanded each sentry to sound off

Recent Examples on the Web

On the newspaper’s opinion side, the paper has experimented with its editorial board endorsement process, avoiding endorsing a candidate in the New York mayor’s race and instead bringing in a panel of local voices to sound off on each mayoral prospect. —Max Tani, semafor.com, 4 Aug. 2025

The viral video of Gillie calling out Newton caused former NFL quarterback Johnny Manziel to step up and sound off on the podcast host. —Justin Grasso, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Aug. 2025

During the vigil, which was attended by Gov. Ned Lamont, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz and hundreds of friends, family, firefighters and other mourners, the fire department sounded off a final siren in honor of Moreau. —Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 30 July 2025

Grade the finale, and Season 1 overall, then sound off in the comments! —Claire Franken, TVLine, 29 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1909, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for sound off

• ashraf
• checkoff
• cutoff
• falloff
• handoff
• kickoff
• layoff
• liftoff
• markoff
• markov
• payoff
• playoff

Kids Definition

sound off

verb

1

: to count while marching

2

: to voice one's opinions freely with force