Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A brief high-pitched humming or buzzing sound, such as that made by a swiftly passing object or a taut vibrating string.
- v. To make a zing.
- v. To move swiftly with or as if with a zing: an arrow zinging toward its target.
- v. Informal To be vivacious or lively: a conversation zinging along.
- v. Informal To attack verbally; criticize sharply: zing an opponent in a debate.
- v. Informal To strike suddenly.
Wiktionary
- n. A short high-pitched humming sound, eg that made by a bullet or vibrating string.
- n. Zest or vitality.
- v. To move very quickly, especially while making a high-pitched hum.
- interj. onomatopoeia A high pitched humming sound.
- interj. US, slang Used to acknowledge a witty comeback, a zinger.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the activeness of an energetic personality
- n. a brief high-pitched buzzing or humming sound
Etymologies
- Imitative. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“It was one of the first times this year that this group had what I call the zing factor,”
“Saron -- I think "zing" is a good way of putting it.”
“I used to think it was all just boring, but it [zing] is everywhere.”
“But the underlying zing from the mumbling, GOP-backing sergeant is that aforementioned fear-and jealousy based dissing that Tiger Woods is the constant recipient of.”
The Post In Which Karl Rove Channels Hall & Oates' Hit Single “Out Of Touch”
“Justified has a lot going for it, namely the zing of Elmore Leonard's original creation and the sturdy presence of Timothy Olyphant.”
The Huffington Post: Michael Giltz: DVDs: "Downton Abbey" Frothy Fun
“The widgetlike device can be downloaded and lets people send, or "zing," messages.”
Ad Track: Kraft, FTD, Western Union adjust ads for recession
“This isn't Wonkette, don't use "zing" in your headlines.”
“I thought they all had a special 'zing' that made them great.”
“The cupcake is very moist and the Almond Buttercream has just enough "zing" to make you think of creamy Pavlovas.”
Week 16: Spring Flowers: Vanilla Cupcakes with Almond Buttercream Frosting
“However, as I mentioned earlier, people like their ministers, lawyers, and politicians to have a little "zing" when publicly speaking.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘zing’.
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Onomatopoetic
words (seemingly) formed in imitation of a natural sound
plash, guff, woof, splash, crash, pow, crack, bang, whoosh, whizz, whallop, fizz and 116 more...
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Sounds
words that describe sound
atchoo, atishoo, babble, bam, bay, beep, blast, blather, bleat, bleep, blip, bong and 242 more...
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onomatopoeias (1 syllable)
1 syllable words that mean what they sound like.
(dictionaried or un-dictionaried words | onomatopoeic in nature)
onomatopoeias (2 syllable) | onomatopoeias (3+ syllables)
gush, buzz, pop, woof, boo, bam, bang, bash, bump, clang, clap, click and 102 more...
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sound (quiet)
words for quiet sounds
( randomness, descriptive )sigh, murmur, whisper, whir, rustle, patter, hum, snap, hiss(sss), crackle, bleat, peep and 185 more...
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EN - newSPEAK
Buzzwords of our time
actionable, administrivia, advermation, agreeance, backbone provider, back-sourcing, baked in, bandwidth, barn raising, Barneyware, belly-buttons, Below Zeros and 1076 more...
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#faveword
Words chosen as favorites for the Twitter hashtag #faveword.
autumnal, grotto, chiaroscuro, sfumato, homunculus, zing, zest, effervescent, bewitch, avuncular, susurrus, Styrofoam and 205 more...
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position (dynamic)
( descriptive )
more:
http://www.wordnik.com/lists/static
even more:
charismatic, lively, animated, shifting, permeate, wobble, shimmer, sparkle, flex, pizzazz, chaos, fractal and 42 more... -
Energetic
braze, raze, brisance, brisant, rive, catalyze, whipsaw, crack, actinic, sublimate, animate, vitalize and 88 more...
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Cute words. :D
the name says it all ^
warble, fuzzy, foofy, buff, cuddle, ding dong, clumsy, ballistic, balling, pudgy, zing, doll and 4 more...
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Serendipity's Words
defenestration, mercurial, syzygy, wicked, iniquitous, metastable, demimonde, entropic, ephemeral, irreligious, frisbee, manifold and 474 more...
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Twitter favorites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favorite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
grabbable, retuiteando, leaving, fantastic, absolutely, kurwa, hella, ridic, underpass, hate, interlude, plush and 2369 more... -
Autantonyms
Words with mutually exclusive double meanings. Also, here are some:
QUASI-AUTANTONYMS: slow up/slow down; bar/debar; bone/debone; burn up/burn down; fat chance/slim chance; fill in/fil...clip, cleave, sanction, handicap, fast, jibe, secrete, aloha, bimonthly, bolt, cheerio, commencement and 139 more...
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schinders's Words
persiflage, preterition, quidnunc, finick, termagant, otiose, magniloquent, weltschmerz, schadenfreude, piehole, malevolent, susurrus and 132 more...
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Onomatopoetics
Words formed in imitation of a natural sound.
bumble-bee, rat-a-tat, blurt, clink, chickadee, rub-a-dub, chirr, chug, keck, flim-flam, brekekekex, thunk and 94 more...
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Resounding Words
great timbre
sone, sonata, resound, sonorous, consonant, unison, sonic, swan, sonant, sonnet, dissonance, scraunch and 142 more...
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lemongrass's Words
ineffable, diode, abraxas, neologism, algorithm, schadenfreude, heresiology, vague, cathartic, quixotic, apocrypha?, quintessence and 103 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for zing.
maurae I think of this in comedic terms. Nov 5, 2008
oroboros Improve v. criticize. May 23, 2008