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flutey

flutey

7.4
Having a clear, high, sweet sound like a small pipe you blow into
  • adjective
  • /ˈfluːti/
translation icon : fluteado
  • Her voice was soft and flutey, enchanting everyone in the audience.
  • flutey voice

Examples

  • Rather clutched the bear tightly to her chest, muffling its flutey, childish voice.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • The lady's voice came shrill, and David moved into the last room of the tour, while the guide's voice resumed its flutey tones, identifying for the ladies the type of pen Melville wrote with and the paper, all carefully laid out by the Melville Society.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • The children's choir sang with a flutey quality that captured the spirit of the season.

  • As the bird sang, its notes had a flutey sound that echoed through the trees.

Synonyms

sweet
vsflutey
58 1.1

Pleasing to the ear, like a soft melody

is narrower, naming a specific clear high tone resembling a wind instrument
mellifluous
vsflutey
  • Formal
4 8.5

A smooth, sweet sound that is pleasant to hear

is narrower, naming a clear high tone resembling a wind instrument
fluty
vsflutey
6.1

Having a clear, high musical sound like a flute

has identical meaning but uses a different spelling ending
fluted
vsflutey
5.6

A clear, pleasant sound like a flute

focuses more on clarity and very high sweet pitch
flute-like
vsflutey
4.2

A clear, high sound like a flute

is more specific about a clearer, higher, sweeter tone
mellisonant
vsflutey
  • Formal
9.9

A pleasant, sweet sound that is nice to hear

stresses a clearer higher tone quality rather than general sweetness

How High

bright
17 3.8
flutey
7.4
deep
99 3.1

Surface Forms

flutey positive
flutier comparative
flutiest superlative

Morphology

flutey = flute (transparent) = flute + y

The adjective is a straightforward adjectival derivation from the noun 'flute' with the productive suffix '-y' meaning 'having the quality of'.

Etymology

Flutey comes from the word flute, the small wind instrument, so it brings to mind a clear, high and sweet sound like that instrument. That's why we call a bird's song or a gentle voice flutey when it sounds 'flute-like'.