sonorant

This term is a technical linguistic classification used to describe sounds that are produced without significant constriction of the airflow. It encompasses a broad category including vowels, liquids (like /l/ and /r/), and nasals (like /m/ and /n/). In phonetic analysis, it serves as the primary opposite of an obstruent, which refers to sounds like stops or fricatives that create turbulence or complete blockage.

When used as an adjective, the word describes the acoustic quality of a sound rather than the category itself. Because it is a specialized term of art, it is almost exclusively found in academic papers, linguistics textbooks, or phonetic transcriptions and is rarely used in general conversation.