Sound & rhythm

Onomatopoeia

A word that imitates the natural sound of the thing it describes.

Onomatopoeia uses words like buzz, crack, or murmur whose sounds echo their meanings. Writers use it to make description vivid and to immerse readers in a scene’s sensory texture. The technique strengthens the link between sound and sense.

Example

Poe packs the poem with onomatopoeia, letting the tinkling and clanging of the bells echo in the very words that name them.

The Bells · Edgar Allan Poe

See it in action

Analyses on StoryBites that use onomatopoeia:

Related terms

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