strident Hear it!

strident Definition

stri·dent (strīd'nt)

adjective

harsh-sounding; shrill; grating

Etymology: L stridens, prp. of stridere, to make a grating noise, rasp < IE echoic base *(s)trei- > Gr trizein, to chirp, screech, L strix, screech owl

strident Related Forms
stri·dence noun or stri·dency stri·dently adverb
strident Synonyms

strident

modif.

shrill, grating, vociferous; see loud 1. See syn. study at vociferous.

strident Usage Examples

Modifies a noun

  • stance: Per cent of and consumers in europe most strident stances.
  • tone: This has a more strident tone which is softened by some fine piano work.
  • critic: Spirit Ecclesiology Rayan has long been a strident critic of the Church hierarchy and an advocate of the reform of its structures and liturgy.
  • voice: Perhaps its time for us to live and let live and to drown out the strident voices of the minority who find this impossible.
  • statement: The World Council of Churches believes the most creative way forward is through conversations, not through strident statements.
  • call: The buyers and sellers filled the air with their strident calls in a patois all of their own.

Modifying Another Word

  • increasingly: Calls for ' the rights of man ' became increasingly strident in 1790-91.
  • rather: The Committee had reservations about the rather strident new Bath stone gate pillars.
  • too: The last election campaign seemed to me to be too strident.
  • so: Unlike most of those so strident in their campaign to'Save our Green' I own no car.
  • not: Visible, but not strident, just getting on with it.

Used with adjective complement

  • become: Over time, he said, he has become less strident.
  • grow: Protests against the war and President Johnson himself had grown so strident by 1968 that he wisely chose not to run for reelection.
  • get: As they get more strident, he digs harder.