Are You Tired of Tracking Down Alternatives for Noisy or Loud?

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Step closer, dear writer. Closer.

Shush now while I invite you into the tranquility of my studio. Take a seat by the open wind —

What’s that? A chainsaw? Perhaps a lawnmower? No, it has a high-pitched whirr. Aha! The neighbor is whipping weeds. Here. I have an extra set of earplugs for you. Put them in before you get a headache. …

Did I use noisy or loud in the previous paragraph? You already know what a chainsaw, lawnmower, and weed whipper sound like, so I’m guessing you heard the racket.

Merely incorporating loud objects in your poetry or prose can paint an effective picture. Or you can create comparisons:

His snoring, a dive bomber in my dreams, morphed into a sleepy wish for an extra pillow to smother the pilot.

The woodpecker’s insistent rat-a-tat-tatting pounded like a jackhammer in my head.

Loud and Noisy Objects Could Include:

A to C
airplane, air compressor, angry audience, avalanche, banshee, bawling infant, bomb, bragging wrestler, bulldozer, cascading waterfall, cattle stampede, chainsaw, cymbals

D to H
dentist’s drill, dive-bomber, drag race, drums, earthquake, exploding _____, fireworks, foghorn, food blender/processor, geyser, grenade, growling stomach, gunfire, hailstorm, helicopter, hurricane

I to O
ice grinder, jackhammer, lawnmower, lovesick moose, motorboat, motorcycle, megaphone, meteor impact, murder (flock) of crows, nagging spouse, off-balance washer, off-key yodeler

P to R
pack of bloodhounds, paper shredder, police siren, power washer, power sander, riot, rock concert, rock crusher, rock tumbler, rocket launch, roller coaster

S
sandblaster, screaming seagull, screaming skydiver, screeching parrot, siren, snowmobile, sporting event, sports bar, squealing brakes

T to W
thunder, tornado, train collision, train whistle, trumpeting elephant, tuba, vacuum cleaner, volcano eruption, whitewater rapids

Choose Active Verbs Instead of Adjectives

Can you hear the sounds in the following sentences?

She stomped down the hall.

He thundered his displeasure.

The crowd roared its approval.

The train screeched to a stop.

Show the Volume

Her fierce retort pierced his eardrums.

The door slammed so hard it rattled the windows.

The wind screamed through every crevice it could find, freezing the fingers we held over our ears in an attempt to block its escalating volume.

Two cats yowled outside the house and woke the occupants from a deep sleep.

Stimulate the Sensory Palate

Noisy and loud don’t always refer to sound. The following sentences intertwine senses to provide a multi-sensory experience.

His tie with its riotous colors shrieked at me, begging to be ripped off and given a merciful death in the paper shredder.

The meadow’s wildflowers trumpeted nature’s tenacity, poking out through burnt roots and bushes within weeks of the forest fire.

Try These Loud and Noisy Adjectives

A and B
abuzz, amok, banging, baying, bellowing, berserk, blaring, blasting, bleating, blustering, blusterous, blustery, boisterous, booming, brash, braying, buzzing

C and D
cacophonous, caterwauling, chattering, clacking, clamant, clamoring, clamorous, clanging, clangorous, clanking, clattery, coarse, crashing, deafening, dinning, discordant, dissonant, drumming

E to O
ear-piercing, ear-popping, earsplitting, echoing, fierce, forte, fortissimo, grating, growling, hammering, harsh, howling, intense, jangling, jarring, loudmouthed, obstreperous, overloud

P to R
penetrating, piercing, piping, plangent, pounding, rackety, raging, rambunctious, ranting, rasping, raspy, raucous, resounding, reverberant, reverberating, ringing, riotous, rip-roaring, roaring, rolling, rowdy

S and T
screaming, sharp, shrill, stentorian, stertorous, strepitous, strident, stridulant, stridulous, squalling, tempestuous, thumping, thundering, thunderous, trumpeting

U to Y
unbridled, unrestrained, uproarious, vocal, vociferant, vociferous, voluble, wailing, wild, yelping

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