sonorous
- 1Having or giving out a deep, full, rich sound, as a bell, an organ, a voice or the language of a poem can.
The old cathedral bell was still sonorous enough to be heard across the valley.
The kids found a sonorous hollow log that boomed whenever they struck it with sticks.
Note
English borrowed the word in the early 17th century from Latin sonōrus, built on sonor, "sound". The sound it describes fills a space and carries: a cave that rings with echoes, a bell heard across a valley, or, in Thomas Carlyle's The French Revolution, President Bailly pronouncing the Oath in so sonorous a tone that the crowd outdoors hears it.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- English borrowed sonorous in the early 17th century from Latin sonōrus, derived from sonor, meaning sound. en.wiktionary.org
- Thomas Carlyle wrote The French Revolution. gutenberg.org
- Carlyle describes President Bailly pronouncing the Oath in a sonorous tone audible to witnesses outdoors. gutenberg.org
- 2Wordy, or full of grand, high-flown language.
The senator's sonorous address said very little in a great many words.
Reviewers mocked the report's sonorous prose, all lofty phrases and no plain facts.
Similargrandiloquent, bombastic, pompous, high-flown
Oppositeplain
Less common meaning
- 3Of a speech sound, produced with a relatively open vocal tract and relatively little obstruction of the airflow.
Practice
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Origin
Borrowed in the early 17th century from Latin sonōrus, from sonor (“sound”).
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- Sonorous was borrowed in the early 17th century. en.wiktionary.org
- Sonorous was borrowed from Latin sonōrus. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin sonōrus derives from sonor, meaning “sound”. en.wiktionary.org