sonorous

sonorous (səˈnɔːrəs, ˈsɒnərəs)

—*adj*
1.	producing or capable of producing sound
2.	(of language, sound, etc) deep or resonant
3.	(esp of speech) high-flown; grandiloquent

[C17: from Latin sonōrus loud, from sonor a noise]

sonority

—n

so'norously

—*adv*

so'norousness

—n

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Word Origin & History

sonorous

1611, from L. sonorus "resounding," from sonor (gen. sonoris) "sound, noise," from sonare "to sound" (see sound (n.1)).

Example sentences

The verse has the sinewy vigor and sonorous chime which generally distinguish

his style.

But even those who did not were held spellbound by the swinging sonorous

cadence.

The pipa is a sonorous, four-stringed, pear-shaped instrument held upright on

the lap.

Severely weathered slates are much less sonorous, and give off a dull thud when

tapped.

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Related Words

sonorant sonority deep mouth roll

roll round sounding trumpeter swan

Matching Quote

"Since I am upon this Subject, I must observe that our English Poets have succeeded much better in the Stile, than in the Sentiments of their Tragedies. Their Language is very often noble and sonorous, but the sense either very trifling or very common. On the contrary, in the ancient Tragedies, and indeed in those of Corneille and Racine, tho' the Expressions are very great, it is the Thought that bears them up and swells them. For my own part, I prefer a noble Sentiment that is depressed with homely Language, infinitely before a vulgar one that is blown up with all the Sound and Energy of Expression. Whether this Defect in our Tragedies may arise from Want of Genius, Knowledge, or Experience in the Writers, or from their Compliance with the vicious Taste of their Readers, who are better Judges of the Language than of the Sentiments, and consequently relish the one more than the other, I cannot determine."

-Joseph Addison