squeaky
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
- squeakily adverb
- squeakiness noun
Etymology
Origin of squeaky
Explanation
If your voice is squeaky, it's high and a little shrill, like a cartoon character. If your shoes sound squeaky when you walk, you'll never be able to sneak up on someone. It's hard for people to take you seriously if you always sound a little squeaky when you talk. Squishy, noise-making dog toys are squeaky, and so is Mickey Mouse's voice, as well as the rusty hinge on an old treasure chest. If something's squeaky clean, it's so immaculate that it squeaks a little — this phrase probably started in the 1970s in advertisements for dishwashing soap.
Vocabulary lists containing squeaky
"Raymond's Run"
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Fish in a Tree
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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.
Her part, like that of Alice in Barry’s previous opera, is enlivened by delightfully squeaky high notes in unexpected places.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026
Credit funds are definitely the squeaky wheel of the private-asset industry right now.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 10, 2026
You sell a house at the price you believe will benefit all siblings, not just one sibling who has mastered the art of being a squeaky wheel.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 19, 2026
This language was echoed by local Labour MP Preet Gill, who said she feared a "public health emergency", while Tory MP Wendy Morton said "squeaky blinders rats" could invade her nearby constituency.
From BBC • Mar. 21, 2025
He was at the age when a boy’s voice is especially squeaky.
From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck
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.
