loud
Americanadjective
-
louder,
comparative
-
loudest
superlative
-
(of sound) strongly audible; having exceptional volume or intensity.
loud talking;
loud thunder;
loud whispers.
- Synonyms:
- stentorian, resounding, earsplitting
- Antonyms:
- quiet
-
making, emitting, or uttering strongly audible sounds.
a quartet of loud trombones.
-
clamorous, vociferous, or blatant; noisy.
a loud party;
a loud demonstration.
-
emphatic or insistent.
to be loud in one's praises;
a loud denial.
-
garish, conspicuous, or ostentatious, as colors, dress, or the wearer of garish dress.
loud ties;
a loud dresser.
-
obtrusively vulgar, as manners or persons.
-
strong or offensive in smell.
adverb
idioms
adjective
-
(of sound) relatively great in volume
a loud shout
-
making or able to make sounds of relatively great volume
a loud voice
-
clamorous, insistent, and emphatic
loud protests
-
(of colours, designs, etc) offensive or obtrusive to look at
-
characterized by noisy, vulgar, and offensive behaviour
adverb
-
in a loud manner
-
audibly, as distinct from silently
Synonym Usage
Loud, noisy describe a strongly audible sound or sounds. Loud means characterized by a full, powerful sound or sounds, which make a strong impression on the organs of hearing: a loud voice, laugh, report. Noisy refers to a series of sounds, and suggests clamor and discordance, or persistence in making loud sounds that are disturbing and annoying: a noisy crowd.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of loud
First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English hlūd; cognate with Old Frisian, Old Saxon hlūd ( Dutch luid ), Old High German hlūt ( German laut ); akin to Greek klytós “famous”
Explanation
The adjective loud describes a noise that has a very high volume, like loud music at a concert that kept your ears ringing even after you left. The word loud comes from the Old English word hlud, which means "making noise, sonorous."Loud is most often used to describe the volume level of music, but it can also refer to voices or other sounds that are unpleasant and high-volumed. Loud can also describe a tasteless or showy fashion choice, like a loud Hawaiian shirt paired with bright orange shorts.
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.
See Examples For:
It was almost impossible to hear the presentation because the volume was turned up so loud that the sound was distorted.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026
Mel might be a disaster with her loud mouth and impolite antics, but her over-the-top meddling does her buddies some good.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Thinking out loud and swallowing it back, basically.
From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026
In a separate incident on 9 July, people living near Millsike described seeing a bomb squad vehicle entering the site, followed later by a loud bang.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
But knowing something and being able to say it out loud are two different things.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Judging by the public response, the government might need a louder alarm.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
Dissent got louder after the twin quakes that struck northern Venezuela on June 24, killing over 6,000 people and decimating hundreds of buildings.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
Gaps began to appear between English wheels as the noise in the crowd grew louder.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
Basically, the Fed’s actions speak louder than its words.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 26, 2026
Of course Karli would sing out louder than any of us, conducting everyone from high up on Marlene.
From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo
“Even when she wasn’t in the game, she was the loudest on the bench. I have a lot of respect for her.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
The genre or at least the loudest instrument shifts every couple hundred feet until we reach the fireworks.
From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2026
This is the loudest central-bank week of the summer, and Wall Street is watching the wrong meeting.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
The 42-year-old says he was seeking that “smug feeling” of knowing source material when he sat down to watch the film on the biggest, loudest screen he could find.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
It was the loudest noise I’d ever heard.
From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri
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.
