Other Word Forms
- raspiness noun
- unraspy adjective
Etymology
Origin of raspy
Explanation
A sound is raspy when it is rough or scratchy. If you get a bad cold or scream encouragement to a losing team for a few hours, you will end up with a raspy voice. A rasp is a tool, usually used by wood- or metal-workers, to scrape. Nail files and kitchen graters do the same work that a rasp does. A raspy voice sounds like it had to pass through a rasp or a grater to get out of your mouth. If you can barely speak, you might ask for water in a raspy whisper. Other sounds can seem raspy too like a dry cough, the caw of a crow or the bark of a dog that has been at it for a long time.
Vocabulary lists containing raspy
The Catcher in the Rye
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A Thousand Splendid Suns
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Orbiting Jupiter
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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.
Lyrics are delivered in raspy, gravelly voices that sound as authentic as the real thing.
From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026
With a voice that is relatively light and raspy and a delivery both nimble and demotic, Mr. Dale matches his energy to the text in a way that makes for effortless listening.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 19, 2025
If the fund industry’s equivalent to a leading man is a growth fund comprised of stocks with large market capitalizations, an active ETF would be a character actor with a raspy voice.
From Barron's • Oct. 11, 2025
Powered by his raspy voice and his flair for the back-in-vogue stylings of early-2000s rock acts like Nickelback and Shinedown, his ascent was quick by Nashville’s slow-moving standards.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 6, 2025
The fabric is raspy against my skin, so unaccustomed lately to being touched.
From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
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.
