din
A loud, unpleasant noise that goes on for a long time.
- The din from the road works made it impossible to hear the teacher.
- We could barely talk over the din of the crowd at the match.
Similar: racket, noise, uproar
din or hubbub?
Hubbub is made of voices. Din can be made of anything, and it is always unpleasant.
Both words mean a lot of noise, and they often sit in the same synonym lists. The difference is what is making the noise, and whether you mind it.
A hubbub is the sound of many people talking at once. The school hall before assembly, full of children chattering about the weekend, is a hubbub. It can be cheerful and exciting; it does not have to be annoying.
A din is any loud, harsh noise that will not stop. The drills from the road works outside the classroom make a din, and so does a drum kit being practised next door. It does not need voices at all, and the word always suggests you would like it to stop.
Both words, side by side
hubbub
A loud noise made by lots of voices at once.
- A hubbub filled the hall as two hundred children all chattered about the surprise.
- A hubbub of chatter and clattering trays filled the busy seaside cafe at lunchtime.
Similar: racket, din, noise
Why it costs marks
When a question asks for the word that best fits a passage, the source of the noise is often the clue. A busy market full of people suits hubbub; machines or banging suit din. Writers also choose between them to show whether a noise is lively or irritating.
Definitions and example sentences on this page are the ones a child sees inside Wordrealm, taken from our list of over 1,100 words. It is free to browse, with nothing to sign up for.
Sitting the 11+ in Kent, Medway or Buckinghamshire?
Plain-English guides to each test, from the councils’ own pages: Kent Test · Medway Test · Bucks Secondary Transfer Test