1
of a musical tone
: slightly off pitch : slightly too high or too low
"I've been told I've been too critical. But on a lot of these shows, some 17-year-old kid is told, 'You're amazing', and no, what you are is potentially amazing. But you're pitchy. You hit some bum notes. … "—
Boy George
Boy George2
of a sound
: unpleasantly high or piercing : shrill
According to Psychology Today, nasal, pitchy voices are often caused by an obstructed airflow in the throat or nasal patches that causes an imbalance in sound vibrations during speech.—Maya Rhodan
Maya RhodanSynonyms
Examples of pitchy in a Sentence
Adjective (1)
we stood staring into the pitchy dark forest, trying to determine what had made the strange cry
the trigger-happy soldiers couldn't see a thing in the pitchy darkness
Recent Examples on the Web
Justin Curto, Vulture, 12 Sep. 2024
Unlike, say, Fergie's take on the song, which went viral after being intentionally/unintentionally different, Andress was pitchy, slurred her words, and appeared genuinely out of it.
—Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 16 July 2024
Mindy fears performing after her viral, pitchy moment, but theater fans know that Park would never shy away from the stage.
—Ariana Brockington, refinery29.com, 2 Oct. 2020
The cast’s singing can be pitchy against the recorded backing tracks of Justin J. Scarlat’s bouncy original songs.
—Matthew J. Palm, orlandosentinel.com, 16 May 2021
The only real performance misstep is Wain’s singing voice, which gets a little pitchy and hard to follow.
—Vulture, 27 May 2022
The singing is occasionally pitchy, the staging feels a bit haphazard, and the presentation is downright low-budget by modern-day standards.
—Paul Grein, Billboard, 29 July 2022
Kelly was worried because there were a lot of pitchy moments.
—Maggie Fremont, EW.com, 5 Oct. 2021
The pitchy treatment can really backfire on the wrong structure.
—Yelena Moroz Alpert, WSJ, 10 June 2021
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Adjective
But that side stage wasn’t far enough away for her horrendously pitchy singing (especially compared to the talented Swims).
—Justin Curto, Vulture, 12 Sep. 2024
Unlike, say, Fergie's take on the song, which went viral after being intentionally/unintentionally different, Andress was pitchy, slurred her words, and appeared genuinely out of it.
—Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 16 July 2024
Mindy fears performing after her viral, pitchy moment, but theater fans know that Park would never shy away from the stage.
—Ariana Brockington, refinery29.com, 2 Oct. 2020
The cast’s singing can be pitchy against the recorded backing tracks of Justin J. Scarlat’s bouncy original songs.
—Matthew J. Palm, orlandosentinel.com, 16 May 2021
The only real performance misstep is Wain’s singing voice, which gets a little pitchy and hard to follow.
—Vulture, 27 May 2022
The singing is occasionally pitchy, the staging feels a bit haphazard, and the presentation is downright low-budget by modern-day standards.
—Paul Grein, Billboard, 29 July 2022
Kelly was worried because there were a lot of pitchy moments.
—Maggie Fremont, EW.com, 5 Oct. 2021
The pitchy treatment can really backfire on the wrong structure.
—Yelena Moroz Alpert, WSJ, 10 June 2021
Dictionary Entries Near pitchy
Cite this Entry
“Pitchy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pitchy. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
pitchy
adjective1
a
: full of pitch : tarry
b
: of, relating to, or having the qualities of pitch
2
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share