adjective
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gratingly harsh or raucous in tone
-
low, harsh, and lacking in intensity
a hoarse whisper
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having a husky voice, as through illness, shouting, etc
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hoarse
1350–1400; Middle English hors < Old Norse *hārs (assumed variant of hāss ); replacing Middle English hoos, Old English hās, cognate with Old High German heis, Old Saxon hēs
Explanation
A hoarse voice is deep and rough and kind of hard to make out. People get hoarse when they're sick, or when they are calling in sick to work. If you're supposed to perform in a play tonight, you'd better hope you don't get hoarse: a hoarse voice doesn't sound the way it should. It's scratchy, gruff, and hard to understand. Sometimes people get hoarse from talking too much. Inhaling smoke can make you hoarse too. On the other hand, some people have raspy, husky, rough-sounding voices that sound hoarse all the time. You could ask them, "Are you hoarse?" They might say, "Nah, I always sound like this."
Vocabulary lists containing hoarse
List 3
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"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act II
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The Cay
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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.
Hoarse shouts for family members filled the air.
From Seattle Times • May 4, 2022
Hoarse shouts for family members filled the air.
From Washington Times • May 4, 2022
Hoarse with emotion, almost Messianic, he would shout into the auditorium, head thrown back, arms wide, telling his fans he loved them, needed them.
From BBC • Apr. 19, 2022
Hoarse from days of celebration, Horner presented himself as a bystander to a dispute that pits Mercedes against the F.I.A.
From New York Times • Dec. 15, 2021
Hoarse, cracking sobs broke from him; another ounce of grief and he would have begun tearing his country-store clothes.
From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles
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.
