SONIC

Meaning

Of or relating to sound.

SONIC as a word-puzzle answer

SONIC is a 5-letter word with 2 vowels (O, I) and 3 consonants (S, N, C). Every letter is distinct, so it rarely punishes a clean opening guess.

It leans on high-frequency letters (S, O, N, I), so a strong vowel-and-common-consonant opener tends to light up quickly. There are no rare letters here, so it is a fair, mid-difficulty answer for the daily Classic puzzle.