adjective
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gratingly harsh or raucous in tone
-
low, harsh, and lacking in intensity
a hoarse whisper
-
having a husky voice, as through illness, shouting, etc
Other Word Forms
- hoarsely adverb
- hoarseness noun
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
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.
“Get up, Father Pierre. Get up!” shouted one elderly woman as she stood in the pallbearers’ path, her screams turning her voice hoarse as she partially collapsed in the arms of a medic.
From Los Angeles Times
Her voice was quiet and hoarse and not all that clear.
From Literature
I want to run to her, scream and wail until I’m hoarse.
From Literature
I sang until my voice was hoarse, and in between, Sean Red pulled me up to dance around the doorstep with my green dress, the wrinkles mostly out now, swirling around me.
From Literature
The way I got into the voice was that I would have to scream myself hoarse.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
