Meanings
shrilly1
comparative more shrilly · superlative most shrilly · alternative shrillly
- In a shrill manner.
[T]he thwarted Hawk circled above, calling shrilly.
1948, Alec H. Chisholm, Bird Wonders of Australia, page 961 more example
Anyone who denounces violent self-defense against the Jew is a coward. He may know the crimes of the Jew, but subconsciously he knows that ACTUALLY taking action would mean sacrificing the bread and circus. It might mean that he won’t live comfortably anymore. This is one of the reasons cowards so shrilly screech that Brenton Tarrant and Robert Bowers were Mossad false flag operations.
2019 April 27, John T. Earnest, An open letter [so-called Earnest Manifesto], margin number 33
shrilly2
comparative more shrilly · superlative most shrilly
- Somewhat shrill.
Yet there they sat, as stones, silent and still. / Sudden a voice, a feeble shrilly voice, / Rose from the inner tent […]
1860, Robert Stafford, Enoch, a Poem in Three Books1 more example
The night—its silence—its rest, was rent in twain by a savage, a sharp, a shrilly sound that ran from end to end of Thornfield Hall.
1847, Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbin a shrill voice
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Ancient Greek διαπρύσιον, λιγέως
- διαπρύσιον (diaprúsion)in a shrill manner
- λιγέως (ligéōs)in a shrill manner
Finnish kimeästi, kimakasti
- kimeästiin a shrill manner
- kimakastiin a shrill manner
French stridemment, de manière stridente
- stridemmentin a shrill manner
- de manière stridentein a shrill manner
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with shrilly
Cite this entry
shrilly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shrilly
“shrilly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shrilly. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shrilly,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shrilly.
Source: shrilly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.