What does "hum-buzz" mean?

A low, continuous, droning sound (like a bee or an idling engine), often indicating a mechanical or electrical noise.

What is a synonym for "hum-buzz"?

Common synonyms include: buzz, hubbub, hum.

Hum-buzz

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
A low, continuous, droning sound (like a bee or an idling engine), often indicating a mechanical or electrical noise. onomatopoeic
"Speaking so quietly I was confident the ambient hum-buzz and the trio of phone conversations would keep anyone farther than a foot away from eavesdropping."
2
Hubbub; busy activity or excitement.

Synonyms

All synonyms

buzz hubbub hum

Example

More examples

"Speaking so quietly I was confident the ambient hum-buzz and the trio of phone conversations would keep anyone farther than a foot away from eavesdropping."

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.