different between shrilly vs sharply

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -?li

Etymology 1

shrill +? -ly

Adverb

shrilly (comparative more shrilly, superlative most shrilly)

1. In a shrill manner.

Translations

Etymology 2

shrill +? -y

Adjective

shrilly (comparative more shrilly, superlative most shrilly)

1. Somewhat shrill.
   • 1847, Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

     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.

   • 1860, Robert Stafford, Enoch, a Poem in Three Books

     Yet there they sat, as stones, silent and still. / Sudden a voice, a feeble shrilly voice, / Rose from the inner tent […]

English

Etymology

From Middle English sharply, scharply, from Old English s?earpl??e (“sharply, smartly”), equivalent to sharp +? -ly.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /???pli/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???pli/

Adverb

sharply (comparative sharplier or more sharply, superlative sharpliest or most sharply)

1. In a sharp manner.
2. (to describe breathing) Suddenly and intensely like a gasp, but typically as the result of an emotional reaction.
3. In an intellectually alert and penetrating manner.
4. Severely.
   • 2013 June 18, Simon Romero, "Protests Widen as Brazilians Chide Leaders," New York Times (retrieved 21 June 2013):

     The economy has slowed to a pale shadow of its growth in recent years; inflation is high, the currency is declining sharply against the dollar — but the expectations of Brazilians have rarely been higher, feeding broad intolerance with corruption, bad schools and other government failings.

5. Of speech, delivered in a stern or harsh tone.

Translations