warbly - Glite Dictionary

Examples

The singer's warbly tones added a unique texture to the melodious ballad.
She spoke in a belabored, warbly way, eager to be liked, but sensing that the chances were slim.

Fiction book (2002)
Her voice had a warbly quality that reminded everyone of the old phonograph records.
As he practiced, his trumpet emitted a warbly sound that indicated he needed to fine-tune the instrument.

Synonyms

tremulous

vswarbly

4 8.6

A voice that shakes slightly because the person is afraid or nervous

describes wavering pitch movement rather than fear driven voice shaking

trilled

vswarbly

Specialized

1 8.4

A speech sound made by a quick vibration of the tongue or throat, like the Spanish r

is a wavering or shaky sound that can include trilling

wobbling

vswarbly

1 5.4

A sound like a voice or siren that goes up and down and sounds unsteady

focuses on wavering or trilling movement up and down in pitch

Antonyms

steady

327 2.0

Not changing over time and remaining the same

monotone

5 5.8

Said or sung in the same tone without change

How Shaky

shaky

51 2.1

warbly

1 8.0

quavery

1 8.0

tremulous

4 8.6

Surface Forms

warbly positive

Morphology

warbly = warble (transparent) = warble + y

Regular adjectival derivation from the verb 'warble' using the productive suffix '-y' yields the meaning 'having a warbling quality', which learners can infer.

Etymology

Warbly comes from the verb warble, a word that copies the sound of a bird that sings with quick, shaky notes, and the ending -y means 'having' a quality. So a warbly voice or sound is 'trilling' or 'wavering', like a small bird or a weak radio signal.