sound bite

American  

noun

1. a brief, striking remark or statement excerpted from an audiotape or videotape for insertion in a broadcast news story.

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sound bite British  

noun

1. a short pithy sentence or phrase extracted from a longer speech for use on radio or television

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sound bite Idioms  

1. A short, striking, quotable statement well suited to a television news program. For example, He's extremely good at sound bites, but a really substantive speech is beyond him. This slangy expression, first recorded in 1980, originated in political campaigns in which candidates tried to get across a particular message or get publicity by having it picked up in newscasts.

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Etymology

Origin of sound bite

First recorded in 1985–90

Example Sentences

Energy vampires are everywhere, thirsty for a selfie or a sound bite or a Zoom.

From Los Angeles Times

She’s 16, and by now she knows how to issue perfect sound bites: “I think every citizen should be given an electric guitar on her sixteenth birthday.”

From Salon

“Their window just went from having 30 minutes on ‘Morning Joe,’ where influencers are, to 35 seconds on a morning show or maybe a sound bite on ‘NBC Nightly News.’

From Los Angeles Times

North pointed to the adage that “it takes a minute to say a sound bite, but an hour to explain why it is false.”

From Los Angeles Times

Twenty-three years of a smug, smarmy host, and a bunch of sportswriters desperate for sound bites and attention.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• blurb
• clip
• excerpt
• one-liner
• quotation
• slogan
• snippet