Onomatopoeia
Pronounced on-uh-mat-uh-PEE-uh.
Onomatopoeia: A word that imitates the sound it describes.
Onomatopoeia collapses the gap between describing a sound and making one, so the reader hears the scene instead of being told about it.
Onomatopoeia examples
"How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle / In the icy air of night!"
— The Bells, Edgar Allan Poe
"Hark, hark! / Bow-wow. / The watch-dogs bark! / Bow-wow."
— The Tempest, William Shakespeare
"SMASH The door was hit with such a force that it swung clean off its hinges and with a deafening crash landed flat on the floor."
— Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, J.K. Rowling
"He heard the clack on stone and the leaping, dropping clicks of a small rock falling."
— For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway
Want a full walkthrough? Read our long-form guide: Onomatopoeia examples, explained.
Spot the Onomatopoeia
Score: 0/0A word that imitates the sound it describes.
"How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle / In the icy air of night!"
Which work is this from?
Explore every literary device in the poetic devices hub.
Onomatopoeia: common questions
What is onomatopoeia in literature?
A word that imitates the sound it describes. Onomatopoeia collapses the gap between describing a sound and making one, so the reader hears the scene instead of being told about it.
What is an example of onomatopoeia?
A classic example is "How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle / In the icy air of night!" (The Bells, Edgar Allan Poe).
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