scrannel
Americanadjective
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thin or slight.
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squeaky or unmelodious.
adjective
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thin
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harsh
Etymology
Origin of scrannel
First recorded in 1630–40; origin uncertain
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.
That no orchestra lurks behind the backdrop is clearly demonstrated when Mr. Stokowski raises his baton and the scrannel strains of the violin and cello tremble, quite unsupported, in the hostile air.
From Time Magazine Archive
From a scintillation of colored lights upon the horizon he could hear the scrannel sounds of the railway come thinly along the night air.
From Sinister Street, vol. 2 by MacKenzie, Compton
Thereupon arose, on all sides, the most terrific uproar of laughter, from voices like those of children in volume, but scrannel and harsh as those of decrepit age, though, unfortunately, without its weakness.
From Phantastes, a Faerie Romance for Men and Women by MacDonald, George
Suspicion, take it all in all, is the most tedious and scrannel of the sins.
From The Book of This and That by Lynd, Robert
The scrannel pipes of those who have worn themselves out by their moral fastings, till they have become flat and pale like starved vermin infesting a long-deserted bed, will never reach my ear.
From The Home and the World by Tagore, Rabindranath
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.
