acoustic

acoustic — adjective

1. connected with sound, the way sound travels, or the way the human ear picks it u

1.adjectiveC1
Definition

connected with sound, the way sound travels, or the way the human ear picks it up.

Example

Bats use acoustic signals to find insects in the dark.

attributive: acoustic + noun (signals, waves, sensors)

Engineers tested the acoustic properties of the new concert hall before opening night.

collocation: acoustic properties / qualities

Common collocations
  • acoustic signal
  • acoustic wave
  • acoustic panel
  • acoustic sensor
  • acoustic properties
Synonyms
  • auditory

    more formal; tied to the ear and hearing rather than sound itself

  • sonic

    focuses on sound waves and speed, common in physics and tech

Grammar Patterns

acoustic + noun

Usage Note

Almost always used before a noun (acoustic guitar, acoustic panel, acoustic signal). Rarely used after a linking verb such as 'be' or 'seem'.

Common Mistakes

The sound was very acoustic in that room.
The room had excellent acoustics.
'acoustic' rarely follows 'be'; use the noun 'acoustics' for how a room sounds.

2. describing a guitar, piano, or similar instrument that produces sound through it

2.adjectiveB2
Definition

describing a guitar, piano, or similar instrument that produces sound through its own body, without plugging into an amplifier.

Example

Jin plays an old acoustic guitar his grandfather gave him.

collocation: acoustic guitar (most common pairing)

The band switched to acoustic instruments for the quiet final song.

Common collocations
  • acoustic guitar
  • acoustic version
  • acoustic set
  • acoustic night
  • acoustic cover
Synonyms
  • unplugged

    informal; usually describes a performance rather than the instrument

Antonyms
  • electric

    the standard opposite for guitars and basses

  • amplified

    broader: any sound boosted by electronic equipment

Grammar Patterns

acoustic + instrument

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 1: this sense is restricted to musical instruments and performances. If you can swap the noun for 'guitar' or 'concert' and the sentence still makes sense, you are in sense 2.

Common Mistakes

I bought an acoustic speaker for my computer.
I bought a regular speaker for my computer.
speakers themselves are not described as 'acoustic'; the word fits instruments, not playback gear.

acoustic — noun

Word family

  • acoustics
    nounC1
  • acoustically
    adverbC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four words touch on sound, but they sit in different registers and point to different parts of the same picture. 'Acoustic' is the everyday choice in science, engineering, and music for anything related to how sound is produced, travels, or is absorbed (acoustic panels, acoustic signals). 'Auditory' is more formal and medical, tied to the ear and the experience of hearing (auditory nerve, auditory hallucinations). 'Sonic' belongs to physics and technology and emphasises sound waves and speed (sonic boom, sonic weapon). 'Aural' is more literary and again refers to hearing (aural skills in music class). Compare: 'acoustic guitar' (instrument type), 'auditory test' (a hearing exam), 'sonic boom' (a wave phenomenon).

acoustic ↗auditory ↗sonic ↗aural

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • acoustic guitar
  • acoustic version
  • acoustic panel
  • acoustic properties

Prepositions

  • acoustic to (the ear)

Etymology

GreekFrenchEnglish

Borrowed in the early 1600s from French 'acoustique' and ultimately from Greek 'akoustikos', meaning 'ready to hear', from 'akouein' ('to hear'). It first entered English as a scientific word for the study of sound, and only in the 20th century did it pick up its now-common musical sense of 'not electrically amplified', a meaning that grew alongside the spread of electric guitars in the 1930s and 1940s.