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shrill

Pronunciation: /ʃɹɪl/

The English word “shrill” has 6 meanings listed here.

adjective

  1. High-pitched and piercing.
  2. Having a shrill voice.
  3. Sharp or keen to the senses.
  4. Especially of a woman: fierce, loud, strident.

verb

  1. To make a shrill noise.

noun

  1. A shrill sound.

Etymology

From Late Middle English schrille, shirle, shrille (“of a sound: high-pitched, piercing; producing such a sound”), possibly from the earlier shil, schille (“loud, resounding; high-pitched”), from Old English sċill (“sonorous sounding”), of Germanic origin and probably ultimately imitative. The r in the word was introduced by analogy to Middle English skrīke, skrīken, scrēmen, possibly to avoid…

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