Standard Lemma guide

guttural

adj · noun · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈɡʌtəɹəl/
  • Canada, General-American: /ˈɡʌtəɹəl/
  • Canada, General-American: [ˈɡʌɾəɹəɫ̩]
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australian, New-Zealand: /ˈɡɐtəɹəl/
  • Australian, New-Zealand: [ˈɡɐɾəɹəɫ̩]
  • rhymes with -ʌtəɹəl
  • CMU ARPABET: G AH1 T ER0 AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of, relating to, or connected to the throat.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: anatomy, medicine, sciences

Examples

  • guttural duct of the ear; guttural pouch infection

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Having a place of articulation towards the back of the mouth; in modern use, uvular, pharyngeal, or glottal; in earlier or non-technical use, also including velar.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, phonetics, phonology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Sounding harsh and throaty.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Arabic is considered a very guttural language, with many harsh consonants.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A harsh and throaty spoken sound

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective

Meaning 5

relating to or articulated in the throat

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the glottal stop and uvular `r' and `ch' in German `Bach' are guttural sounds

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

adjective satellite

Meaning 6

like the sounds of frogs and crows

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a guttural voice
  • acres of guttural frogs

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: croaky

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

a consonant articulated in the back of the mouth or throat

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: guttural consonant, pharyngeal, pharyngeal consonant

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: consonant

History

Etymology

From Middle French guttural, from New Latin gutturālis, from Latin guttur (“throat”) + -ālis.

Across languages

Translations

34 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: կոկորդային (kokordayin) — sounding harsh and throaty
  • Bulgarian: гърлен (gǎrlen) — sounding harsh and throaty
  • Catalan: gutural — sounding harsh and throaty
  • Esperanto: guturala — sounding harsh and throaty
  • Finnish: käheä — sounding harsh and throaty
  • French: guttural — sounding harsh and throaty
  • German: guttural — sounding harsh and throaty
  • German: kehlig — sounding harsh and throaty
  • Greek: λαρυγγώδης (laryngódis) — sounding harsh and throaty
  • Greek: λαρυγγόφωνος (laryngófonos) — sounding harsh and throaty
  • Hebrew: גְרוֹנִי — sounding harsh and throaty
  • Ido: guturala — sounding harsh and throaty
  • Italian: gutturale — sounding harsh and throaty
  • Polish: nieartykułowany — sounding harsh and throaty
  • Portuguese: gutural — sounding harsh and throaty
  • Romanian: gutural — sounding harsh and throaty
  • Russian: горта́нный (gortánnyj) — sounding harsh and throaty
  • Russian: горлово́й (gorlovój) — sounding harsh and throaty
  • Spanish: gutural — sounding harsh and throaty
  • Albanian: grykor — phonetics: articulated at the back of the mouth
  • Bulgarian: гърлен (gǎrlen) — phonetics: articulated at the back of the mouth
  • Finnish: gutturaalinen — phonetics: articulated at the back of the mouth
  • Hungarian: gutturális — phonetics: articulated at the back of the mouth
  • Polish: gardłowy — phonetics: articulated at the back of the mouth
  • Sanskrit: कण्ठ्य (kaṇṭhya) — phonetics: articulated at the back of the mouth
  • Spanish: gutural — phonetics: articulated at the back of the mouth
  • Bulgarian: на гърлото (na gǎrloto) — medicine, anatomy: of, relating to, or connected to the throat
  • Finnish: kurkku- — medicine, anatomy: of, relating to, or connected to the throat
  • Finnish: gutturaalinen — medicine, anatomy: of, relating to, or connected to the throat
  • Polish: gardłowy — medicine, anatomy: of, relating to, or connected to the throat
  • Albanian: grykore — harsh and throaty spoken sound
  • Dutch: keelklank — harsh and throaty spoken sound
  • Finnish: kähinä — harsh and throaty spoken sound
  • Hungarian: torokhang — harsh and throaty spoken sound
Real reading context

guttural in complete knowledge articles