wah-wah

American  

[wah-wah] / ˈwɑˌwɑ /

Or wa-wa

adjective

1. producing a muted, bawling sound like that of a trumpet with the hand moved momentarily over the bell.

   a wah-wah effect on a synthesizer; a guitar with a wah-wah pedal.

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noun

1. a sound or effect like the muted sound of a trumpet, especially in music.

2. an electronic device or attachment to produce such a sound, often used with an electric guitar.

wah-wah British  

/ ˈwɑːˌwɑː /

noun

1. the sound made by a trumpet, cornet, etc, when the bell is alternately covered and uncovered: much used in jazz

2. an electronic attachment for an electric guitar, etc, that simulates this effect

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Etymology

Origin of wah-wah

First recorded in 1925–30; imitative

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

wah-wah

“Stay on That” is one of the slinkier numbers on the album, with rapidly strummed guitars and a wah-wah squawk that recalls Isaac Hayes’s “Theme From Shaft.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 17, 2026

The D-Vine sound is defined by urgency and joy, as well as its tight rhythm section and hypnotic, almost psychedelic wah-wah guitar, played by a local teenager named Wendell Moore.

From New York Times ● May 23, 2023

There’s wah-wah guitar in “Grease” and a quasi-reggae breakdown in “Road Runner,” and the LP closes with an unexpected cover of 4 Non Blondes’ early-’90s hippie-grunge hit “What’s Up?”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2022

A 19-year-old Stevie Wonder performs “Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day” and takes a blistering clavinet solo through a wah-wah pedal, a preview of what would soon become one of the signature sounds of Wonder’s 1970s reign.

From Slate ● Jul. 2, 2021

I ceased making the sound "wah-wah" only when I learned to spell the word.

From The Story of my life; with her letters (1887-1901) and a supplementary account of her education, including passages from the reports and letters of her teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, by John Albert Macy by Macy, John Albert