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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

twang.

The sharp, quick sound of a vibrating tight string, for example, of a bow or a musical instrument.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈtwæŋ/[ˈtʰwæŋ]/ˈtweɪ̯ŋ/Canada, US[ˈtʰweɪ̯ŋ] ~ /ˈtwɛ̃ŋ/Canada, US
  1. The sharp, quick sound of a vibrating tight string, for example, of a bow or a musical instrument.

  2. A particular sharp vibrating sound characteristic of electric guitars.

  3. A trace of a regional or foreign accent in someone's voice.

    Despite having lived in Canada for 20 years, he still has that Eastern European twang in his voice.
  4. The sound quality that appears in the human voice when the epilaryngeal tube is narrowed.

    nasal twang
  5. A sharp, pungent taste or flavor; sometimes, a disagreeable one specifically.

    spicy twang
  6. An annoying or stupid person; especially, a recalcitrant.

    slang · vulgar
Where this word comes from

Onomatopoeic. Compare Middle English twengen (“to pinch, tweak”) (whence modern English twinge), from Old English twenġan (“to pinch, twinge”); Middle English twingen (“to afflict, torment, oppress”), from Old Norse þvinga (“to weigh down, oppress”); Old English twingan (“to force, press”).

verb/ˈtwæŋ/[ˈtʰwæŋ]/ˈtweɪ̯ŋ/Canada, US[ˈtʰweɪ̯ŋ] ~ /ˈtwɛ̃ŋ/Canada, US
  1. To produce or cause to produce a sharp vibrating sound, like a tense string pulled and suddenly let go.

    ambitransitive
  2. To have a nasal sound.

    intransitive
  3. To have a trace of a regional or foreign accent.

    intransitive
  4. To play a stringed musical instrument by plucking and snapping.

Where this word comes from

Onomatopoeic. Compare Middle English twengen (“to pinch, tweak”) (whence modern English twinge), from Old English twenġan (“to pinch, twinge”); Middle English twingen (“to afflict, torment, oppress”), from Old Norse þvinga (“to weigh down, oppress”); Old English twingan (“to force, press”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.