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

OTHER WORDS FROM shrill

shrill·ness, noun shril·ly, adverb out·shrill, verb (used with object) un·shrill, adjective

Words nearby shrill

shrieval, shrievalty, shrieve, shrift, shrike, shrill, shrimp, shrimp plant, shrimper, shrimpfish, shrine

Words related to shrilly

acute, high-pitched, loud, malodorous, penetrating, piercing, piping, putrid, rancid, rank, sharp, shrieky, shrill, smelly, soprano, strident, treble, reeking

Example sentences from the Web for shrilly

British Dictionary definitions for shrilly

shrill
/ (ʃrɪl) /

adjective

sharp and high-pitched in quality
emitting a sharp high-pitched sound

verb

to utter (words, sounds, etc) in a shrill tone
(tr) rare to cause to produce a shrill sound

Derived forms of shrill

shrillness, noun shrilly, adverb

Word Origin for shrill

C14: probably from Old English scralletan; related to German schrill shrill, Dutch schrallen to shriek