noun
Meaning 1
The property of being shrill.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Examples
- The shrillness of her voice made people's ears hurt.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
shrillness
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.
No pronunciation record was provided for this word.
noun
Meaning 2
The result or product of being shrill.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
having the timbre of a loud high-pitched sound
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: stridence, stridency
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: timbre, timber, quality, tone
noun
Meaning 4
the quality of being sharp or harsh to the senses
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- the shrillness of her hair color
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: interest, interestingness
History
Etymology
Etymology tree English shrill Proto-Germanic *-inōną Proto-Indo-European *-dyé- Proto-Germanic *-atjaną Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Germanic *-þuz Proto-Germanic *-assuz Proto-Germanic *-inassuz Proto-West Germanic *-nassī Old English -nes Middle English -nesse English -ness English shrillness From shrill + -ness.