What does acoustic mean?
Word: Acoustic
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Acoustic means to do with sound or hearing. It also describes a musical instrument that is not electric.
Antonyms: electric
How do you spell acoustic?
Syllables: a - cous - tic
Tricky part: The middle has two vowels, o then u, which students often swap or cut down to u alone.
Watch out for: acustic, acoustick, acuostic
Memory tip: Acoustic is all about sound, and it keeps the ou of sound in its middle.
Acoustic in a sentence
Example 1: Arjun prefers his acoustic guitar to the electric one.
Example 2: The singer tested the acoustics of the hall before the concert.
Example 3: Bats rely on acoustic signals, listening for echoes to find insects in the dark.
Fun Fact
Before electric guitars arrived in the 1930s, nobody needed to say acoustic guitar; the word was added later to tell the old kind from the new.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) atheletic
b) acoustic
c) acrobatik
d) aquatick
Show answer
b) acoustic. Aquatic and acrobatic end in a plain c, and athletic has no e between the h and the l.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
accoustic
a) u
b) c
c) s
d) o
Show answer
b) c. Acoustic opens a-c-o-u with just one c.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
tsuciaoc
a) acrostic
b) acoustic
c) agnostic
d) caustic
Show answer
b) acoustic. Acrostic needs an r, agnostic a g and an n, and caustic is one letter short, with no o.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word:
acoustic
a) visual
b) tactile
c) auditory
d) optical
Show answer
c) auditory. Acoustic and auditory both have to do with sound and hearing; the others are about sight or touch.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these is an acoustic instrument?
a) an electric guitar
b) a cello
c) an electric keyboard
d) a synthesiser
Show answer
b) a cello
2. If a hall has good acoustics, ____.
a) sound carries clearly in it
b) it has soft seats
c) it has bright lights
d) it stays cool in summer
Show answer
a) sound carries clearly in it
