loud
- (of sound) strongly audible; having exceptional volume or intensity: loud talking; loud thunder; loud whispers.
- 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.
- in a loud manner; loudly: Don't talk so loud.
- out loud, aloud; audibly: I thought it, but I never said it out loud. Just whisper, don't speak out loud.
Origin of loud
Synonyms for loud
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comAntonyms for loud
Related Words for loudness
noise, tone, vibration, accent, note, music, harmony, melody, voice, din, ringing, softness, modulation, tenor, intonation, report, static, reverberation, pitch, racketExamples from the Web for loudness
Historical Examples of loudness
"I don't care who hears me," Adams said, harshly, though he tempered his loudness.
Alice AdamsBooth Tarkington
Best, apparently, on account of the loudness or clearness of his voice.
Heard from close by, where Maya sat, the music was overpowering in its loudness.
The Adventures of Maya the BeeWaldemar Bonsels
Also it achieved a regularity and loudness that guaranteed it to be genuine.
The Rich Little Poor BoyEleanor Gates
The shouts and cries of the terrified settlers increased in loudness.
Afar in the ForestW.H.G. Kingston
loud
- (of sound) relatively great in volumea loud shout
- making or able to make sounds of relatively great volumea loud voice
- clamorous, insistent, and emphaticloud protests
- (of colours, designs, etc) offensive or obtrusive to look at
- characterized by noisy, vulgar, and offensive behaviour
- in a loud manner
- out loud audibly, as distinct from silently
Word Origin for loud
Word Origin and History for loudness
loud
Old English hlud "noisy, making noise, sonorous," from West Germanic *khluthaz "heard" (cf. Old Frisian and Old Saxon hlud, Middle Dutch luut, Dutch luid, Old High German hlut, German laut "loud"), from PIE past participle *klutos- (cf. Sanskrit srutah, Greek klytos "heard of, celebrated," Armenian lu "known," Welsh clod "praise"), from root *kleu- "to hear" (see listen).
Application to colors first recorded 1849. The adverb is from Old English hlude, from Proto-Germanic *khludai (cf. Dutch luid, German laut). Paired with clear since at least c.1650.
Idioms and Phrases with loudness
loud
In addition to the idioms beginning with loud
- loud and clear
- loud mouth
also see:
- actions speak louder than words
- big (loud) mouth
- for crying out loud
- out loud
- think aloud
- (loud enough) to wake the dead