strident

[ strahyd-nt ]

/ ˈstraɪd nt /

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See synonyms for: strident / stridency on Thesaurus.com

adjective

making or having a harsh sound; grating; creaking: strident insects; strident hinges.

having a shrill, irritating quality or character: a strident tone in his writings.

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

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of strident

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

OTHER WORDS FROM strident

stridence, stri·den·cy, nounstri·dent·ly, adverbnon·stri·dent, adjectiveo·ver·stri·dence, noun

o·ver·stri·den·cy, nouno·ver·stri·dent, adjectiveo·ver·stri·dent·ly, adverbun·stri·dent, adjectiveun·stri·dent·ly, adverb

Words nearby strident

strictly, strictly decreasing function, strictly increasing function, stricture, stride, strident, stride piano, strider, stridor, stridulate, stridulous

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use strident in a sentence

Instead of being strident or prescriptive or obvious, Scenes declines hand-holding duties as the audience processes its discomfort.
HBO's Scenes From a Marriage Remake Is Trying to Break Your Heart, All Over Again|Judy Berman|September 4, 2021|Time
Star players have grown more strident in dictating their situations, and in some cases teams have stumbled in response.
As Aaron Rodgers saga shows, keeping a franchise QB happy is almost as important as finding one|Adam Kilgore|May 6, 2021|Washington Post
The opposition to this has been particularly strident from the British pub sector, which is in the midst of a slow return to normal operations.
Everyone is anxious about vaccine passports, especially British pubs|Samanth Subramanian|March 30, 2021|Quartz
I think what she doesn’t seem to understand is that all of this strident waving around of guns doesn’t make the people around you feel safe about the idea of you being heavily armed in their presence.
Rep. Lauren Boebert displays guns in background during virtual House committee hearing|Colby Itkowitz|February 19, 2021|Washington Post

I appreciated Ari’ strident voice and his willingness to speak up for others.
Music loses a beloved queer icon as Ari Gold passes from cancer at 47|John Paul King|February 17, 2021|Washington Blade
Then the beat kicks in, followed shortly thereafter by strident vocals.
The Making of Kiesza: From Navy Sharpshooter to Beauty Queen to Pop Diva|Marlow Stern|October 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But for whatever reason, his postings about Islam became increasingly strident.
The Muslim Convert Behind America’s First Workplace Beheading|Michael Daly|September 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Wolf also has campaigned as a strident opponent of Obamacare and touted his medical expertise in doing so.
D-Day for Milton Wolf, Obama’s Tea Party Cousin, in Kansas Senate Primary|Ben Jacobs|August 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
As Schaeffer grew more strident and political, his son was his right-hand man.
Frank Schaeffer, the Atheist Who Believes in God|Nick Tabor|August 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Phyllis is a short, stocky, enraged-seeming woman with a high, strident voice and piercing stare.
The Stacks: The Judas Priest Teen Suicide Trial|Ivan Solotaroff|June 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A strident voice drowned the scandal, and an admiring group ceased smoking and listened spellbound to a characteristic anecdote.
The Chequers|James Runciman
At Healys, under the strident elevated station, a few guests were entering the blazing dining-rooms, laughing and expectant.
The Woman Gives|Owen Johnson
There was something strident in her voice, as if she pleaded for strength to break the web of years.
Country Neighbors|Alice Brown
His wife had naturally a strident one, but she essayed to follow him in the matter of voice, as in all other things.
The Butterfly House|Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
Her thoughts were cut off suddenly by a strident voice in Houston's ear.
The Penal Cluster|Ivar Jorgensen (AKA Randall Garrett)

British Dictionary definitions for strident

strident

/ (ˈstraɪdənt) /

adjective

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

urgent, clamorous, or vociferousstrident demands

Derived forms of strident

stridence or stridency, nounstridently, adverb

Word Origin for strident

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

strident

Origin of strident

OTHER WORDS FROM strident

Words nearby strident

Words related to strident

How to use strident in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for strident

Derived forms of strident

Word Origin for strident