different between shrill vs stridulous

English

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, shrill; audible, clear; melodious, sweet-sounding”), from Old English scill (“sonorous sounding”), of Germanic origin. The r in the word was introduced by analogy to Middle English skr?ke, skr?ken, scr?men, possibly to avoid confusion with non-Anglian forms of schelle (modern English shell) where Old English scill (“sonorous sounding”) and scill (“shell”) existed.

The word is cognate with Icelandic skella (“crash, bang, slam”), Low German schrell (“sharp in taste or tone”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /???l/
• Rhymes: -?l

Adjective

shrill (comparative shriller, superlative shrillest)

1. High-pitched and piercing.
2. Having a shrill voice.
3. Sharp or keen to the senses.
4. (figuratively, derogatory, especially of a complaint or demand) Fierce, loud, strident.

Coordinate terms

• garish
• strident

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

shrill (third-person singular simple present shrills, present participle shrilling, simple past and past participle shrilled)

1. To make a shrill noise.

Derived terms

• outshrill
• shrilling
• shrillingly

Translations

Noun

shrill (plural shrills)

1. A shrill sound.

Translations

References

English

Etymology

From Latin stridulus (“creaking, giving a shrill sound”), from stridere (“to utter an inarticulate sound, creak, grate”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?st??dj?l?s/

Adjective

stridulous (comparative more stridulous, superlative most stridulous)

1. Emitting a particularly harsh or shrill sound.
   • c. 1874, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Ovid in Exile

     the Sarmatian boor driving his stridulous cart

2. (pathology) Relating to stridor.

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “stridulous”, in Online Etymology Dictionary