strident

[strahyd-nt]

adjective

1. making or having a harsh sound; grating; creaking.

   strident insects; strident hinges.

2. having a shrill, irritating quality or character.

   a strident tone in his writings.

3. Linguistics.,  (in distinctive feature analysis) characterized acoustically by noise of relatively high intensity, as sibilants, labiodental and uvular fricatives, and most affricates.

strident

/ ˈstraɪdənt /

adjective

1. (of a shout, voice, etc) having or making a loud or harsh sound

2. urgent, clamorous, or vociferous

   strident demands

Other Word Forms

• stridence noun
• stridency noun
• stridently adverb
• nonstrident adjective
• overstridence noun
• overstridency noun
• overstrident adjective
• overstridently adverb
• unstrident adjective
• unstridently adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of strident¹

1650–60; < Latin strīdent- (stem of strīdēns ), present participle of strīdēre to make a harsh noise; -ent

Word History and Origins

Origin of strident¹

C17: from Latin strīdēns, from strīdēre to make a grating sound

Example Sentences

But Rosenkranz has faced widespread criticism for his membership of a student fraternity known for its strident pan-German nationalism, and the country's main Jewish organisation has ruled out working with him.

Read more on Barron's

Smith’s provocations are often stunning; her prose is thrillingly strident; but her fiction better captures the messiness of public and private selves at war with each other.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

But beyond the strident rhetoric lies a good story about race, power and the exploitation of gridiron heroes.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

However, since its conference last month, ministers have been increasingly strident in making such arguments.

Read more on BBC

And definitely not from Barrios, whose demeanor is usually more baseball mom than strident activist.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• blatant 
• jarring 
• loud 
• raucous 
• vociferous