clangorous

C3L1A1N1G2O1R1O1U1S1

adjective

Making a clangor.

Scrabble 13

Meanings

adjectiveclangorous (comparative more clangorous, superlative most clangorous)

comparative more clangorous · superlative most clangorous · alternative clangerous · alternative clangourous

  1. Making a clangor.

    Who would have thought that the clangorous Noise of a Smith’s Hammers should have given the first rise to Musick?

    1712 March 24, Joseph Addison, The Spectator, volume V, number 334
    3 more examples

    No sooner had these syllables passed my lips, than—as if a shield of brass had indeed, at the moment, fallen heavily upon a floor of silver—I became aware of a distinct, hollow, metallic, and clangorous, yet apparently muffled, reverberation.

    1839, Edgar Allan Poe, The Fall of the House of Usher

    The air was full of sound, a deafening and confusing conflict of noises—the clangorous din of the Martians, the crash of falling houses, the thud of trees, fences, sheds flashing into flame, and the crackling and roaring of fire.

    1898, H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, Book One, Chapter Twelve

    Music lovers have long discerned a splendid aural feast in the sounds of the gamelan. Emanating perpetually from communities all over the island of Bali, its sonorities sail over the ricefields on clear nights, showering the air with brilliant cascades of metallic sound, lonely whispering melodies, grandiose and clangorous marches, virtuosic rhythms, and breathtaking crescendos.

    1998, Michael Tenzer, chapter 1, in Balinese Music, Berkeley: Periplus Editions, page 11

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivehaving a loud resonant metallic sound

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Englishclangor
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₃ed-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₃édosder.?
  4. Englishclangorous

From clangor + -ous.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

clangorous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clangorous

MLA

“clangorous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clangorous. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “clangorous,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clangorous.

Source: clangorous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.