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Synonyms

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.

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

"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

verb

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

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

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

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.