Home › Glossary › Letter S

Strike a chord

Idiomatic Phrase
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Strike a chord means to resonate emotionally or intellectually with someone; in lyrical poetry, it describes the powerful connection between text and reader, evoking shared feelings, memories, or insights.

Detailed Definition
Strike a chord means to arouse recognition, sympathy, memory, or emotional resonance in someone. In poetry, the idiom is especially apt because it draws on music, suggesting that a word, image, rhythm, or story can vibrate within the reader like a sounded string. It can describe shared grief, nostalgia, moral insight, or sudden connection between speaker and audience. A poet may use it to show how private feeling becomes communal. The phrase is useful for thinking about lyric power and emotional harmony.
Example
Example in poetry:
A lyric might say the old hymn strikes a chord in those who remember childhood Sundays; In a protest poem, one line about hunger strikes a chord across the crowd; The phrase means to produce recognition or emotional response; A poet can use it for shared feeling.
Additional Notes
Strike a chord means resonate emotionally, awaken recognition, or connect with shared feeling. The musical image is especially apt for poetry, where sound and meaning often work together. A phrase, image, memory, or story may strike a chord in speaker or reader. Students should notice that resonance depends on a listener already capable of vibration. It pairs well with strings, echoes, song, memory, and communal feeling.
Also Known As
resonate
Skip to main content