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sound

SOWND/saʊnd/

Pluralsounds

Verbsounds, sounding, sounded

Adjectivesounder, soundest

28 meanings of sound

Practice

  1. 1
    nouncountable or uncountable
    Vibrations that travel through air, water or another medium and can be heard; also, what is heard, such as a particular noise.

    Sound travels at about 343 meters per second through air at room temperature.

    Engineers measured how the sound passed through the steel beam.

    UsageNoise is often loud or unwanted; sound is anything you hear: the sound of rain, a strange noise in the engine.

  2. 2
    verbintransitive
    To come across in a particular way, judging from what one has heard or read about something, as in sounds like a good idea.

    Judging by the reviews, the hotel sounds perfect for a quiet weekend.

    I know the plan may sound risky, but we've tested every step.

    UsageFollowed by an adjective (sounds great) or by like + a noun (sounds like fun). As if also works before a clause.

    Similarseem, appear

  3. 3
    verbintransitive
    To seem a particular way to someone who is actually hearing it, judging by the voice or the noise itself, as in you sound tired.

    You sound exhausted. Maybe you should rest before driving.

    His voice sounded strained when he answered the phone this morning.

    UsageTakes an adjective, not an adverb: you sound tired, she sounded worried. Use sound like before a noun.

    Similarseem, appear

    Note

    This linking verb takes an adjective and reports an impression drawn from the voice or noise itself: you sound tired, he sounded good. It differs from the "it seems" meaning, which judges from a report rather than the sound. Shakespeare's "How silver-sweet sound lovers' tongues by night" in Romeo and Juliet follows the same pattern, with the adjective thrown first for emphasis.

  4. 4
    musical stylenouncountable or uncountable
    The distinctive style and tonal character of a particular musician, band, or orchestra.

    Motown built its reputation on a polished, soulful sound.

    Critics praised the orchestra's warm, rounded sound.

    UsageUsually with the or a possessive: their sound, the Motown sound.

    Similarstyle, tone, timbre

    Note

    Musicians' and critics' shorthand for an identity you can recognize by ear: the sound of a band, a singer, an orchestra. The Glenn Miller Story (1954) turns on finding it ("That's it, that's the sound."), and the line shows the word standing alone for a goal worth chasing.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

  5. 5
    in good repairadjective
    Solid, secure, and in good condition, with no weakness or flaw.

    The inspector confirmed that the building's structure was sound.

    The company remains financially sound despite the downturn.

    UsageOften after an adverb that names the area: structurally sound, financially sound.

    Similarsolid, stable, secure, sturdy, strong

    Oppositeunstable, shaky, unsafe, weak

  6. 6
    speech unitnouncountable
    A single segment of spoken language; the smallest unit of speech, such as an individual vowel or consonant.

    English has more vowel sounds than its five written vowels suggest.

    Changing a single sound turns bat into pat, a completely different word.

    UsageNot the same as a letter: knife has five letters but three sounds. Say speech sound when plain sound could mean any noise.

    Similarphoneme

    Note

    Phonetics narrows the word to a single spoken segment: one vowel or consonant as it is actually produced. Sounds are counted by ear and letters by eye, and the two tallies often differ.

  7. 7
    ring outverbtransitive or intransitive
    To make a noise or ring out, or to make something such as an instrument, bell or alarm give out a noise.

    The trumpets sound at the very start of the ceremony.

    A bell sounded somewhere in the distance, then fell silent.

    UsageCommon in sound the alarm and sound a warning, which can also mean to warn people about a danger.

    Similarring, resound, blare, toll, chime

  8. 8
    sea inletnouncountable
    A long, narrow sea inlet, or a strait between the mainland and an island, or one connecting two larger bodies of water.

    A narrow sound separated the two islands from the coast.

    Fishing boats sheltered in the sound during the storm.

    UsageOften part of a place name, after the name and with a capital: Puget Sound, Long Island Sound.

    Similarstrait, channel, inlet, narrows, firth

    Note

    A different word from the sound you hear, native and nautical. Old English sund covered swimming, the sea and a strait, and Old Norse sund meant a channel or inlet. William Camden in 1605 wrote of "the Sound of Denmarke, where ships pay toll."

  9. 9
    decentadjectiveslangBritishIreland
    Of a person or thing, good, decent, reliable, or thoroughly satisfactory.

    The gig last night was absolutely sound from start to finish.

    Don't worry about Dave. He's a sound lad and won't let you down.

    UsageMost often said of a person: he's sound, a sound lad. Often made stronger with dead: dead sound.

    Similargreat, decent, solid, reliable, brilliant

    Note

    Slang from Britain and Ireland that points three ways. It answers a greeting (How are you? I'm sound), praises a thing (that pub is sound), and above all vouches for a person: he's sound means he can be trusted and is worth knowing.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • The slang sense meaning good or decent is associated with Britain and Ireland. en.wiktionary.org

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of sound apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 5, 9–14, 17–18, 23

From Middle English 'sound', from Old English 'sund' meaning "safe, whole, uninjured, healthy," ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sundaz ("healthy"). It is related to German 'gesund' and Dutch 'gezond', both meaning "healthy."

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

Meanings 1–4, 6–7, 16, 21–22, 24

The noun comes from Middle English 'sownde', an alteration of 'soun', borrowed via Anglo-Norman and Old French 'son' from Latin 'sonus', ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂- ("to sound, resound"). The verb comes from Latin 'sonō' by the same route. The extra '-d' was a hypercorrect addition in the fifteenth century, and the word displaced native Middle English 'swei'.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

  • The noun derives from Middle English sownde, an alteration of soun. en.wiktionary.org
  • Middle English borrowed the noun through Anglo-Norman and Old French, ultimately from Latin sonus. en.wiktionary.org
  • Latin sonus ultimately derives from the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root *swenh₂-, meaning to sound or resound. en.wiktionary.org
  • The verb derives through Middle English and French from Latin sonō, whose infinitive is sonāre. en.wiktionary.org
  • The added d is hypercorrect and appears in the fifteenth century. en.wiktionary.org
  • Sound displaced the native Middle English word swei. en.wiktionary.org
Meaning 8

From Middle English 'sound', from Old English and Old Norse 'sund' meaning "channel, strait, sea, or the act of swimming," from Proto-Germanic *sundą, probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swem- ("swimming; sea"). It is cognate with Danish and Swedish 'sund' ("strait, channel") and related to 'swim'.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 7 facts

Meanings 15, 19–20

The source is Old French sonder, which gave Middle English sounden. The French verb was based on sonde ("sounding line"), a Germanic word that can be compared with Old English sund ("water, sea") and sundgyrd ("a sounding rod").

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts