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.
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
Finally, India’s jingoistic domestic discourse on Pakistan, exemplified by a shrill media that struggles to separate fact from fantasy, has made it easier for Washington to ignore legitimate Indian concerns about the Islamic Republic.
“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.
Thatcher was seen as "strange and shrill" when she got the job, but became the party's most successful boss of modern times.
From 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.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
