sonorous
Americanadjective
adjective
-
producing or capable of producing sound
-
(of language, sound, etc) deep or resonant
-
(esp of speech) high-flown; grandiloquent
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sonorous
1605–15; < Latin sonōrus noisy, sounding, equivalent to sonōr-, stem of sonor sound ( son ( āre ) to sound 1 + -or -or 1 ) + -us -ous
Explanation
Used to describe sound or speech that is full, rich, and deep, sonorous is a great word for snoring, for bass voices, and for low notes on the tuba. Skip the first "o" and you'll see snore inside this word, which should give you a clue as to its deeply resonant character. Another way to remember sonorous is that son sounds like "sound," and that's what this word is all about.
Vocabulary lists containing sonorous
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Common Senses: Son ("Sound")
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Things Fall Apart
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
If the Dodgers win, they move on to the NL Championship Series, where Kershaw could get a chance to end his career on a more sonorous note than the clunker he played Wednesday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2025
Low sonorous chanting resonated through the hall as ritual smoke lingered in the still, humid air.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2025
It’s startlingly similar to what happens when he stands on opera stages — all 6 feet, 5 inches of him — and bellows in his sonorous bass-baritone; you are irrevocably drawn in.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 15, 2024
His once sonorous voice, capable of issuing booming blasts of indignation, has grown somewhat quieter and more phlegmy.
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2023
“Welcome,” he said, his voice deep and sonorous, “to the Island of the Immortal.”
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
