Words / S / General

strident

adjective/ˈstraɪdənt/

B2CEFR level
45/100Rarity: uncommon
NeutralRegister

Loud and harsh in a way that is grating on the ear.

Her strident objections cut across the murmur of polite conversation.

Similar: grating, shrill

Origin: From Latin stridere 'to creak, make a harsh sound'.

Topic: harsh sound in General English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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