Stentorian

From Stentor, a Greek herald in Homer’s "Iliad" whose voice, the poet says, was as loud as the shout of fifty other men. His name became shorthand for sheer vocal power. Fittingly, myth holds that Stentor died after losing a shouting contest with the god Hermes.

  1. adjective · /sten-TOR-ee-un/

    Extremely loud and powerful in sound, especially of a person’s voice.

    A voice that fills a room without a microphone — the word for booming, commanding volume that carries over any crowd.

    The sergeant’s stentorian roar cut clean across the parade ground before anyone had spotted him.

    Sonorous describes a voice that is rich, deep, and resonant; stentorian is strictly about volume — powerful and carrying, whether or not it is beautiful.