strident

[ strahyd-nt ]
See synonyms for strident on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. making or having a harsh sound; grating; creaking: strident insects; strident hinges.

  2. having a shrill, irritating quality or character: a strident tone in his writings.

  1. Linguistics. (in distinctive feature analysis) characterized acoustically by noise of relatively high intensity, as sibilants, labiodental and uvular fricatives, and most affricates.

Origin of strident

1
1650–60; <Latin strīdent- (stem of strīdēns), present participle of strīdēre to make a harsh noise; see -ent

Other words from strident

  • stridence, stri·den·cy, noun
  • stri·dent·ly, adverb
  • non·stri·dent, adjective
  • o·ver·stri·dence, noun
  • o·ver·stri·den·cy, noun
  • o·ver·stri·dent, adjective
  • o·ver·stri·dent·ly, adverb
  • un·stri·dent, adjective
  • un·stri·dent·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use strident in a sentence

  • But the stridency of these novels is not the most complex or surprising shift in contemporary recession literature.

    Literary Gold in Hard Times | Chloë Schama | November 4, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • Voices and laughter came very softly to his ears above the distant stridency of traffic.

    Three Soldiers | John Dos Passos
  • Jesse's wretched gun slammed again, a different sound, a spattering clang, followed by the stridency of Jesse cursing and weeping.

    Wilderness of Spring | Edgar Pangborn
  • As a rule this subject moves the Dean to stridency; but the heavy magnificence of Castle Affey crushed him into a kind of whisper.

    The Red Hand of Ulster | George A. Birmingham
  • Its stridency and the tang of fresh sawdust strike sharp across the air fragrant with fern.

    The Joys of Being a Woman | Winifred Kirkland
  • Just as a mere bit of physical stimulus the crescendoish stridency of the speech roused Barton to a lazy smile.

    Little Eve Edgarton | Eleanor Hallowell Abbott

British Dictionary definitions for strident

strident

/ (ˈstraɪdənt) /


adjective
  1. (of a shout, voice, etc) having or making a loud or harsh sound

  2. urgent, clamorous, or vociferous: strident demands

Origin of strident

1
C17: from Latin strīdēns, from strīdēre to make a grating sound

Derived forms of strident

  • stridence or stridency, noun
  • stridently, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012