shrill

[shril]

adjective

shriller, shrillest 

1. high-pitched and piercing in sound quality.

   a shrill cry.

2. producing such a sound.

3. full of or characterized by such a sound.

   shrill music.

4. betraying some strong emotion or attitude in an exaggerated amount, as antagonism or defensiveness.

5. marked by great intensity; keen.

   the shrill, incandescent light of the exploding bomb.

verb (used with or without object)

1. to cry shrilly.

noun

1. a shrill sound.

adverb

1. in a shrill manner; shrilly.

shrill

/ ʃrɪl /

adjective

1. sharp and high-pitched in quality

2. emitting a sharp high-pitched sound

verb

1. to utter (words, sounds, etc) in a shrill tone

2. rare,  (tr) to cause to produce a shrill sound

Other Word Forms

• shrillness noun
• shrilly adverb
• outshrill verb (used with object)
• unshrill adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of shrill¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of shrill¹

C14: probably from Old English scralletan; related to German schrill shrill, Dutch schrallen to shriek

Example Sentences

“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.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

Thatcher was seen as "strange and shrill" when she got the job, but became the party's most successful boss of modern times.

Read more on BBC

Along a line of wooden power poles running to the horizon in both directions, 14 miles from the nearest paved road, a solitary pay phone beckons with the shrill sound of impatient civilization.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

It draws on another 21st-century innovation: the rise of shrill reality TV like "The Apprentice."

Read more on Salon

Then all the shrill noise of combat hits the ears at once and you understand how impossible it is to make sense of anything.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• deafening 
• discordant 
• earsplitting 
• noisy 
• piercing 
• raucous 
• sharp 
• strident