resonance

A strong emotional effect because something connects with your feelings or experiences.

• The song has deep emotional resonance.
• Her story had particular resonance for people far from home.
• The speech found resonance with young voters.

How to use it: resonance with someone (The story has special resonance with older readers.); resonance for someone (The song has personal resonance for me.)

Common phrases: emotional resonance, personal resonance, resonance with someone

The quality of a space that makes sounds seem deep and full.

• The hall has a lovely resonance.
• Stone walls gave the chapel a deep resonance.
• The musicians tested the room’s resonance before the concert.

Common phrases: room resonance, natural resonance, resonance of something

Sound created or strengthened when sound waves make another object shake.

• The sound caused resonance in the glass.
• Blowing across the bottle produced a low resonance.
• Students measured the resonance frequency of a metal tube.

Common phrases: acoustic resonance, resonance frequency, resonance in something

The description of a molecule using several possible arrangements of its electrons.

• Resonance helps explain the stability of benzene.
• We drew several resonance structures for the molecule.
• The chemistry lesson covered electron movement and resonance.

Common phrases: resonance structures, resonance forms, resonance stabilization