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

wobbling

vswarbly

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

trilled

vswarbly

Specialized

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

Antonyms

steady

304 2.0

Not changing over time and remaining the same

monotone

2 5.8

Said or sung in the same tone without change

How Shaky

shaky

59 2.1

warbly

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.