shrill

American  

[shril] / ʃrɪl /

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.

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verb (used with or without object)

1. to cry shrilly.

noun

1. a shrill sound.

adverb

1. in a shrill manner; shrilly.

shrill British  

/ ʃrɪl /

adjective

1. sharp and high-pitched in quality

2. emitting a sharp high-pitched sound

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verb

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

2. 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

The response around baseball to Tucker’s contract was as shrill as it was predictable.

From Los Angeles Times

The sound of a horse’s shrill whinny on the street below drifted in through an open window, but no breeze.

From Literature

He writes, for example, that the guitarist James Blood Ulmer plays “shrill, disjointed fragments, nervous bits and rickety pieces tied together by a staggered but wryly swinging thematic sensibility.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Veronika’s shrill, repeated demand that they leave “right now, Mama, right now!” had given her a blinding headache, or so Madame claimed.

From Literature

Bars beckon along our path of modern-day “riau-riau music, the pipes shrill and the drums pounding,” and we dance our way in and out of a few joints, looking for the right madness.

From Salon

Related Words

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