shrill
Americanadjective
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high-pitched and piercing in sound quality.
a shrill cry.
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producing such a sound.
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full of or characterized by such a sound.
shrill music.
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betraying some strong emotion or attitude in an exaggerated amount, as antagonism or defensiveness.
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marked by great intensity; keen.
the shrill, incandescent light of the exploding bomb.
verb (used with or without object)
noun
adverb
adjective
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sharp and high-pitched in quality
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emitting a sharp high-pitched sound
verb
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to utter (words, sounds, etc) in a shrill tone
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rare (tr) to cause to produce a shrill sound
Other Word Forms
- outshrill verb (used with object)
- shrillness noun
- shrilly adverb
- unshrill adjective
Etymology
Origin of shrill
1300–50; Middle English shrille (adj., v.); akin to Old English scrallettan to sound loudly; cognate with German schrill (adj.), schrillen (v.); compare Old Norse skrīll rabble
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.
“My grandmother was a sharecropper in Arkansas, and I know that this is the same thing,” a man shouts at one point as whistles shrill and a handheld siren wails.
From Slate • Feb. 11, 2026
“I know James isn’t going to take the impression in a more self-righteous or shrill direction,” he says—not because “SNL” is playing things safe, but because the bit simply wouldn’t be as funny.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 3, 2025
We must transcend the shrill negative feelings and emotions that characterized the campaign season.
From Salon • Jan. 21, 2025
The album’s title track, “Vida Rockstar,” opens with skateboards hitting concrete and the high shrill of a skater’s dragging heel.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 1, 2024
From a distance came the shrill call of a bird, the first birdsong he had heard since leaving Caer Dallben.
From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander
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.
