crackle
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A fizzing, popping sound.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
krakuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkɹækəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A prolonged, frequent cracking sound; a fizzing, popping sound.
verb
Make a crackling sound
“My Rice Krispies crackled in the bowl.”
intransitive
To make a prolonged, frequent cracking sound which sounds like fizzing or popping.
intransitivefigurative
To be full of tension or emotion.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A prolonged, frequent cracking sound; a fizzing, popping sound.
Used this way, crackle is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use crackle
- “My Rice Krispies crackled in the bowl.”verb
- “The blazing sun crackled the desert sand.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
The residue that remains after animal fat has been rendered.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Glazed china with a network of fine cracks on the surface.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: make a crackling sound
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.