lilt

American  

[lilt] / lɪlt /

noun

lilts plural

1. rhythmic swing or cadence.

2. a lilting song or tune.

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verb (used with or without object)

1. to sing or play in a light, tripping, or rhythmic manner.

lilt British  

/ lɪlt /

noun

1. (in music) a jaunty rhythm

2. a buoyant motion

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verb

1. (of a melody) to have a lilt

2. to move in a buoyant manner

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• liltingness
  noun
• lilting
  adjective
• liltingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• lilts
  plural

Etymology

Origin of lilt

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English verb lilte, lulte “to sound an alarm; lift up (one's voice)”; perhaps akin to Dutch, Low German lul “pipe,” lullen “to lull,” Norwegian lilla “to sing,” of imitative origin

Explanation

Use the word lilt to describe a swinging kind of tempo in music. You might love old fashioned big band jazz because of its distinctive lilt. Upbeat, rhythmic music of any kind has a lilt, and you can also describe certain ways of speaking as having a lilt. In this case, the lilt is either the rhythm of a person's speech, or her accent — an Irish accent is often called an "Irish lilt." Lilt can be a verb, too, as when you lilt out a song. The earliest meaning of the word was "to lift up one's voice," from the West Midlands lulten, "to sound an alarm."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lilt lilts

He speaks softly, with a lilt he picked up when his family moved to Australia from Lebanon.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026

In the second cast, Christine Shevchenko fell far short of Ms. Teuscher’s finesse, but she essayed the opening “Preghiera” movement with more of its requisite lilt and shimmer than Ms. Teuscher did.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026

Australian is also uniquely incompatible with the American lilt, she said.

From Barron's ● Mar. 5, 2026

"It's lovely to hear Welsh being spoken. It's lovely to have the whole lilt, that wonderful sound. It's kind of a celebration of Wales as well."

From BBC ● May 25, 2025

The music and lilt were gone from Lucinda’s voice.

From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine

“Life’s so fun, life’s so fun,” Gavin lilts on “Silk Chiffon,” which features Phoebe Bridgers and has caromed across TikTok, soundtracking cookie dough tutorials, hangovers and odes to crushes.

From New York Times ● Jun. 22, 2022

Yet it is acting for animation that isolates the wonders of Schaal’s voice — an instrument that lilts and rises and motors with a warm kinetic tickle.

From Washington Post ● May 26, 2022

But it’s the dusky shadings and subtle Southern lilts that imbue emotional color and make other people’s songs momentarily her own.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2021

In a career spanning four decades, Washington instructed actors to speak not just in national dialects but also in regional and local lilts, even historical ones.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 17, 2021

But I, Lyow, choose Lay-making, of loud lilts which linger.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White