earsplitting

1 6.3

Very loud in a way that hurts your ears

adjective
/ˈɪrˌsplɪtɪŋ/

: ensordecedor

When the fire alarm went off, its earsplitting noise sent everyone rushing for the exits.

Examples

There is a powerful, earsplitting whistle.

Fiction book (1997)
The dog would have preferred that Lex never sleep in his own bed again, for the dog, in his elaborate, non-touching, earsplitting, bald way, loved Susan.

Fiction book (1999)
The concert ended with an earsplitting finale that left the audience both thrilled and temporarily deafened.
After the explosion, all we could hear was an earsplitting ringing in our ears.

Synonyms

loud

vsearsplitting

775 1.0

Having a very strong, high sound

describes extreme pain and possible temporary hearing loss rather than mere volume

deafening

vsearsplitting

30 3.5

An extremely loud sound that makes it hard to hear or causes temporary loss of hearing

is louder in causing pain rather than only harming hearing

thunderous

vsearsplitting

16 4.1

A very loud, deep sound like thunder

is more about sharp pain and hearing risk than deep powerful sound

blaring

vsearsplitting

3 4.4

A very loud, unpleasant sound that hurts your ears

focuses on causing pain or hearing loss rather than only harshness

ear-piercing

vsearsplitting

1 4.1

Very loud, high sound that hurts your ears

emphasizes pain and risk of hearing loss rather than high sharpness

overloud

vsearsplitting

1 3.4

Too noisy in a way that annoys or disturbs people

tends to stress actual harm to ears rather than mere disruption

Antonyms

quiet

∞ 1.0

Not making much noise

soft

Specialized

7 4.2

Made by vibrating the vocal cords

How Loud

earsplitting

1 6.3

loud

775 1.0

faint

157 2.7

Surface Forms

earsplitting positive

Morphology

earsplitting = ear + split (transparent) = ear + split + ing

The compound ear + split + -ing conveys the intuitive meaning 'so loud as to split the ears', i.e., extremely loud.

Etymology

The word earsplitting joins ear and split, creating a strong image of a sound so loud it feels like it would 'split' your ear. So, earsplitting means very loud or even painfully loud.