sounds 1 of 4

verb (1)

present tense third-person singular of sound
1
as in echoes
to continue or be repeated in a series of reflected sound waves the stranded hiker's cries for help sounded throughout the canyon

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in seems
to give the impression of being the idea at least sounds plausible

Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in voices
to make known (as an idea, emotion, or opinion) a person who certainly isn't shy about sounding her opinions

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in announces
to make known openly or publicly the grand opening of the region's newest and largest mall has been loudly sounded for months

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

sounds

2 of 4

verb (2)

present tense third-person singular of sound
1
as in plumbs
to measure the depth of (as a body of water) typically with a weighted line the pilot sounded the river to make sure we weren't in any danger of running aground

Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in plunges
to cast oneself head first into deep water a whale suddenly surfaced and then, just as suddenly, sounded

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

sounds

3 of 4

noun (1)

plural of sound
as in hearings
range of hearing wandered off, out of her parents' sight and sound

Synonyms & Similar Words

sounds

4 of 4

noun (2)

plural of sound
as in channels
a narrow body of water between two land masses Long Island Sound is between Connecticut and Long Island, New York

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of sounds
Verb
Tyler Biadasz suffered a serious injury to his anterior cruciate ligament in practice this week, and the prognosis sounds bleak. — Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2026 The Road To Quadrillionistan A quadrillion-dollar bitcoin market sounds silly today. — Dave Birnbaum, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026 Earplugs, white noise machines or sleep earbuds can reduce or mask snoring sounds. — Ryan Brennan, Charlotte Observer, 20 Aug. 2026 For Zaibert, founder of the Emotional Relevance™ methodology , trust is not proven by how warm a client sounds when everything is easy. — K.h. Koehler, Freep.com, 20 Aug. 2026 The thunder sound was a combination of wobbling window of shades of the ’40s to achieve that old school thunder sound that was layered in with some newer thunderclap sounds. — Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 19 Aug. 2026 Even though The Ecstatic feels like a reflexive response to Bush’s America, the album tackles a wider swath of issues and sounds. — David Harris, SPIN, 19 Aug. 2026 Little ones will also love hearing the crinkle sounds, looking in the mirror and playing with toys. — Bestreviews, Mercury News, 19 Aug. 2026 Turning sounds into tracks Detecting something underwater is only the beginning. — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 15 Aug. 2026
Noun
On weekends, Nelson takes over, giving Aikman opportunities to practice his skills and experience the sights, sounds and distractions of everyday life in the community. — Nelly Carreño, CBS News, 21 Aug. 2026 The sounds of generators humming and chain saws whirling filled the neighborhood Thursday afternoon. — Rebecca Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 20 Aug. 2026 Khn went back and forth between guitar to bass parts, using his foot pedals to record and play live loop segments from each half of his axe, creating wonderfully rhythmic passages and walls of sounds. — Jim Harrington, Mercury News, 20 Aug. 2026 The game feels far away, and the sounds float up to the cavernous space below the roof where the noise dies. — Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 19 Aug. 2026 Bose introduced Sleepbuds in 2018 as compact earbuds that masked disruptive sounds instead of playing music. — Ryan Brennan, Sacbee.com, 19 Aug. 2026 On a recent morning, dozens of girls in crisp uniforms rushed through the courtyards filled with bougainvillea, baobabs and palm trees to the sounds of birds and ocean waves. — ABC News, 18 Aug. 2026 Habity Design The Habity bedside clock looks like a familiar retro alarm clock, but inside sits a low-power e-paper screen, a speaker, and a small collection of calming sounds. — New Atlas, 18 Aug. 2026 Before long, the Moving Sidewalks had evolved into ZZ Top, and the three Texans would spend the next half-century turning a lean blues-rock formula into one of the most recognizable sounds — and images — in American music. — Spin Staff, SPIN, 18 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sounds
  1. seems
  2. voices
  3. announces
  4. plumbs
  5. plunges
  6. hearings
  7. channels
  8. looks
Verb
  • Volatility - like myself - seems to have taken a break over the summer.
    — Leonie Kidd, CNBC, 17 Aug. 2026
  • And the only thing really falling seems to be US military readiness, as key arms stockpiles are rapidly depleted.
    — Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of seems
Verb
  • Josh Gad, who voices the snowman Olaf, is returning as well, and started recording his dialogue for the film in February.
    — Madison E. Goldberg, PEOPLE, 13 Aug. 2026
  • Tom Krasovic voices his opinion (here) that the moves made the Padres a playoff team.
    — Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of voices
Verb
  • Every few weeks, another headline announces that artificial intelligence has matched a doctor, beaten a doctor, or is finally ready to become one.
    — Arya Rao, STAT, 19 Aug. 2026
  • If that was not confusing enough, the calendar remains shrouded in uncertainty until only a few weeks before the first match of each campaign, when the PCB belatedly announces the fixtures.
    — Ahsan Iftikhar Nagi, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of announces
Verb
  • Ophelia’s Got Talent plumbs the depths of the nineteenth-century cult of Ophelia, epitomized in John Everett Millais’s famous painting of her watery death.
    — Caroline Lillian Schopp, Artforum, 13 May 2026
  • As Latifi plumbs the industry, what stands out is just how manufactured this content is, and how often the children are being manipulated to perform.
    — Kristen Martin, The Atlantic, 13 May 2026
Definition of plumbs
Verb
  • The tense moment lasts for several seconds before the hippo plunges back underwater and stops following the boat.
    — Kelli Bender, PEOPLE, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Dreams may be a universal and rich experience that plunges us into the unconscious to evoke some truth.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 27 July 2026
Definition of plunges
Noun
  • The two hearings are expected to draw as much attention as the trial in June, when a jury found Anthony guilty of murdering Austin Metcalf and sentenced him to 35 years in prison.
    — J.D. Miles, CBS News, 18 Aug. 2026
  • Three class action lawsuits have upcoming motions or hearings challenging the policies.
    — Stuart Anderson, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of hearings
Noun
  • During its two-and-a-half-hour descent through Titan’s thick orange atmosphere, Huygens captured the first-ever views of the surface, revealing river channels, ancient shorelines and a landscape shaped by liquid methane rather than water.
    — Jamie Carter, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026
  • No longer the sole creator of content distributed through his channels, Wayne now oversees hundreds of employees who together produce roughly 1,200 pieces of content per month.
    — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of channels
Verb
  • This week as a special treat, HBO release the first five minutes of the premiere episode that looks fantastic and reveals a much younger Hal Jordan being interviewed in 1996 and John Stewart's abusive family backstory involving a gun and an apple!
    — Jeff Spry, Space.com, 16 Aug. 2026
  • For Marni's summer collections, Consuelo brought her idiosyncratic sensibility to looks that mixed ethnic and vintage elements with intriguing cutting.
    — Hamish Bowles, Vogue, 16 Aug. 2026
Definition of looks

Browse Nearby Words

soundproofs
sounds
sounds off
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Sounds.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sounds. Accessed 24 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on sounds

Nglish: Translation of sounds for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of expeditious

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

How to Pronounce the Trickiest Menu Items

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Aug. 21

16 Glee-ridden Words from Schitt's Creek
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
alt-684346df967d5
Add A Letter Quiz Pick the letter that goes in the same spot in fou...
See All