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Business & Workplace Languageidiom (verb phrase) · /kʌt θruː ðə nɔɪz/

cut through the noise

In simple English

To make your message stand out from competing information. Used when discussing how to make important updates visible to users or stakeholders.

Someone heard this phrase in a meeting about product messaging or marketing and wants to understand what it means.

At a glanceCEFR B2–C1
Commonness3/5
Versatility3/5
FormalityCasualFormalNeutral
Spoken ↔ WrittenSpokenWrittenBoth
Directness ↔ DiplomaticDirectDiplomaticNeutral
RegionUS and UK
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Say it like this

✓How do we cut through the noise and get users to notice this feature?
✓This update really cuts through the noise.
✓We need messaging that cuts through the noise.
✓The new design cuts through the noise much better.
✓It's hard to cut through the noise with so many notifications.

Real examples

Standup

"The PM wants us to focus on the banner feature—she says it needs to cut through the noise on the homepage."

Slack message

"Our release notes are too long. How can we cut through the noise and highlight the key changes?"

GitHub PR

"I simplified the error messages so they cut through the noise and users actually read them."

Jira ticket

"Goal: Create a notification design that cuts through the noise without being annoying."

Retrospective

"Our status updates didn't cut through the noise—stakeholders missed the delay warning."

Sprint planning

"This sprint, let's focus on features that cut through the noise for new users."

Pair programming

"These logs are too verbose. Let's make the important warnings cut through the noise."

Don't say this

✕We need to cut the noise.
✓We need to cut through the noise.— The full idiom is 'cut through the noise'—don't drop 'through'.
✕This feature cuts through noises.
✓This feature cuts through the noise.— 'Noise' is uncountable in this idiom. Always use 'the noise' (singular).
✕Let's cut through the noise this bug.
✓Let's cut through the noise and fix this bug.— You need a connector like 'and' or 'to' after the phrase when adding another action.

Other forms

base form

cut through the noise

"We need to cut through the noise."

third person singular

cuts through the noise

"This message cuts through the noise."

past tense

cut through the noise

"The new design cut through the noise."

present participle

cutting through the noise

"We're cutting through the noise with simpler alerts."

Often used with

really cuts throughEmphasizes strong visibility
help cut throughSuggests assistance in gaining attention
hard to cut throughIndicates difficulty standing out
designed to cut throughShows intentional focus on visibility
finally cut throughIndicates success after struggle

Similar words

stand outMore general—doesn't imply competing information
break throughSimilar meaning, often used for barriers rather than information
get noticedSimpler and more direct
rise aboveMore formal, suggests superiority
grab attentionMore active, implies effort to attract

Opposites

get lost in the noiseblend ingo unnoticedget buriedfade into the background

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Practice

Try it

4 quick exercises

Choose the most natural sentence

1. Which sentence sounds most natural?

Find the mistake

2. Our new banner cuts through the noises on the homepage.

Complete the sentence

3. The PM said our release notes need to _____ and highlight the important changes.

Rewrite naturally

4. Rewrite using 'cut through the noise': 'We want users to notice this feature among all the other things on the page.'

Questions

Quick poll

Have you said "cut through the noise" in a standup this week?

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