Meaning & use
disembodied voice
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A voice that is heard but whose speaker cannot be seen or identified.
Grammar: Countable and usually used with 'a' or 'the': a disembodied voice came from the speakers.
Patterns
- a disembodied voice said something
- hear a disembodied voice
- a disembodied voice from somewhere
A disembodied voice told us to fasten our seat belts.
In the dark room, a disembodied voice asked who was there.
The recording is just a disembodied voice reading numbers.
nounsingularfigurative
A way of speaking that seems to come from nowhere and has no clear human source.
Grammar: Often used figuratively, especially for announcements, computers or spirits: the disembodied voice of the machine.
Patterns
- the disembodied voice of something
We followed the disembodied voice of the GPS through the city.
Her characters often hear the disembodied voice of memory.
Common combinations
- a disembodied voice said
- Then a disembodied voice said, 'Please remain calm.'
- hear a disembodied voice
- I heard a disembodied voice behind the door.
- a disembodied voice from above
- A disembodied voice from above warned them to leave.
- the disembodied voice of a machine
- The disembodied voice of the machine repeated the message.
Synonyms and how they differ
- voice from nowhere
- A looser, more conversational way to say the same thing; 'disembodied voice' is more literary and precise.
- ghostly voice
- Suggests something frightening or supernatural, while a disembodied voice may simply be a recording or an unseen speaker.
Word family
- disembodied adjective
- Separated from or existing without a body.
- disembody verb
- To free something from a body; rare and mostly used in literary writing.
Commonly confused: disembodied voice or disembowel?
disembodied voice vs disembowel
This means to remove someone's inner organs and is a violent word; 'disembodied' means without a body.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'disembodied voice' most naturally?
Choose one answer.
A disembodied voice has no visible or identifiable speaker, as in the radio example. Option 0 confuses it with a singing voice, option 2 wrongly suggests a manner of speaking to someone, and option 3 makes no sense because soup has no voice.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “disembodied voice”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.