How to say "buzz" in Japanese

• バズ
  nounA katakana loanword used chiefly for figurative buzz — the surge of attention or excitement around a topic, especially on social media — not for literal buzzing sounds.
• ぶんぶん
  adverb (with と)The onomatopoeia for a steady buzzing or humming, most typically of insects such as flies, bees and mosquitoes; think of a fly circling the room.
  蜂はちが１ぴきぶんぶんいっている。↗

  A bee is buzzing.
• ブーン
  adverb (with と)The onomatopoeia for a low, continuous hum or whirr — an electric fan, a motor, a fluorescent light — though it can also render the drone of bees.
• ブー
  interjectionFor 'buzz' this covers only buzzer-type sounds: the flat electronic buzz itself, or the 'wrong answer' signal on quiz shows — not the buzz of insects or the hum of machines.
• 羽音はおと
  nounAn ordinary noun, not an onomatopoeia, for the sound of wings: the buzz of bees, the hum of insects, or the flutter of wings — as in hearing a bee before you see it.
  その間あいだずっと、じいさんの言いったことが、メロンの周まわりを飛び回とびまわる蠅はえの羽音はおとのように、頭あたまの中なかでぶんぶんと鳴なっていました。↗

  All that time the things granddad had said, like the sound of flies flying round a melon, buzzed in my head.

For literal buzzing pick an onomatopoeia — 「ぶんぶん」 for insects, 「ブーン」 for humming machines, 「ブー」 only for buzzers — or, when you need a noun, 羽音 for the buzz of bees; 「バズ」 is for figurative buzz, especially online.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• バズbuzz
• ぶんぶんbuzz
• ぶーんwhirr
• ブーbeep
• 羽音はおとflapping sound (of wings)
• 唸るうなるto hum (engine, wind, etc.)
• 唸り声うなりごえhum (of a machine, power lines, etc.)
• 唸りうなりhum (e.g. of a motor)