breathy
Americanadjective
adjective
-
(of the speaking voice) accompanied by an audible emission of breath
-
(of the singing voice) lacking resonance
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of breathy
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But the first time I transcribed an interview I’d conducted with my breathy, inconsistent voice, I felt like one giant cringe.
From Slate ● Apr. 18, 2026
The president, played by a breathy, beleaguered Idris Elba and known only by his call sign, “Icon,” is of indeterminate party and ideology.
From Slate ● Mar. 13, 2026
With her original, breathy way of speaking, stressing odd syllables and stretching random vowels to the breaking point, her mad fashions and family of wigs, Moira is a sketch character with depth.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2026
Her voice is low and breathy and her diction is flat, and her vocals sit a hair lower in the mix than one might expect.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 6, 2026
A long moment passed, almost long enough for another breathy sermon.
From "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary D. Schmidt
The study also found that the longer someone underwent vocal therapy, the larger their glottal gap became, giving them a higher pitch and breathier voice.
From Science Magazine ● Dec. 17, 2023
Trans women usually seek out a higher pitched, breathier voice as these are traits typically perceived as feminine.
From Science Magazine ● Dec. 17, 2023
Their laughs are lower-pitched and breathier than that of humans.
From National Geographic ● Feb. 2, 2018
At first the nasal, twerpy whine deepened and straightened itself out into something breathier and more emotional; then the emotion slowly drained away until he became austere.
From New York Times ● Apr. 10, 2011
But, actually, I’m gasping between each word, so it’s breathier than that.
From "Better Nate Than Ever" by Tim Federle
Ms. Jepsen is at her breathiest here: “I wanna play this for you all the time/I wanna play this for you when you’re feeling used and tired.”
From New York Times ● Aug. 19, 2015
She also did her breathiest “Hi, I’m Elizabeth Taylor” to Edward Albee, the playwright of “Virginia Woolf.”
From New York Times ● Jun. 9, 2011
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
