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Glite Dictionary
breathy

breathy

8 5.7
A voice that sounds soft and has a lot of air
  • adjective
  • /ˈbrɛθi/
translation icon : susurrante
  • "Mr. McNally," she murmured, voice low and breathy, "Frank has told me why you are here."
  • breathy voice
  • breathy quality
  • breathy sound

They have to say it with that ethereal, breathy, condescending tone.

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Examples

  • "Yeah," Megan answered in a breathy voice that meant it was quite a bit better.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • I wanted her mind in this act, and her voice, breathy as a starlet.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • And what happened, he was too breathy, and he was going slightly flat.

    Sam Smith: Dreams Come True (2015)

  • So keep your breathy thoughts to yourself.

    31 (2016)

  • "Well, I think we found our pass," Kosutic said with a breathy chuckle.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • The mare makes a breathy sound deep in her chest and jerks her head.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • "Don't tell," she breathed in a breathy little voice that sounded eerily childlike.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • Hhhiiih..., Jaime says, his voice breathy and tremulous, like a vibrating reed.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • Abby heard the toneless chatter of the television, then two breathy explosions from the espresso machine.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Her voice was soft and breathy, making her whisper feel even more intimate.

Synonyms

airy
vsbreathy
6 3.4

Very light and delicate, often seeming to float

describes a soft voice with clear extra breath rather than general lightness
whispery
vsbreathy
2 4.1

Making a soft sound like a whisper

emphasizes audible breath in the sound rather than just low volume

Antonyms

clear
40 1.0

Pure and distinct in sound or colour

How Breathy

whispery
2 4.1
breathy
8 5.7
airy
6 3.4

Surface Forms

breathy positive

Morphology

breathy = breath (transparent) = breath + y

Formed directly from the noun 'breath' with the productive suffix '-y'; the adjective meaning is predictable from the base.

Etymology

The word breathy comes from the simple word breath, which means 'air from your lungs', plus the ending -y meaning 'full of' or 'like'. So a breathy voice sounds soft and airy because you can hear the breath in the sound.