shrill

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“My grandmother was a sharecropper in Arkansas, and I know that this is the same thing,” a man shouts at one point as whistles shrill and a handheld siren wails.

From Slate • Feb. 11, 2026

Lopez handed one to Juan Ballena, who immediately used it — a shrill, reedy blast soon answered by others.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 9, 2025

“I know James isn’t going to take the impression in a more self-righteous or shrill direction,” he says—not because “SNL” is playing things safe, but because the bit simply wouldn’t be as funny.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 3, 2025

It draws on another 21st-century innovation: the rise of shrill reality TV like "The Apprentice."

From Salon • May 23, 2025

I’d heard the same clanging every day, every night, since we’d moved to this city, but there was something so shrill, so rude in the sound that I bolted up in bed.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu