as in accent
the attractive quality of speech or music that rises and falls in a pleasing pattern
There was a charming lilt to her voice. a tune with a lilt
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of lilt
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, The Athletic, 28 July 2024
Higher quality wines are layered and complex with aromas and flavors that include bread dough, brioche, nuttiness and a creamy caramel/toffee/butterscotch lilt that is both remarkably satisfying and begging to be paired with rich food.
—Tom Mullen, Forbes, 24 Nov. 2024
Hajar Harb, Washington Post, 17 Nov. 2023
Sauvé is extremely soft-spoken, her slight Quebecois accent lilting over the crowd’s hush.
—Cameron Cook, Pitchfork, 7 Nov. 2023
See All Example Sentences for lilt
Noun
His gentle south Welsh lilt has survived a decade in England.
—Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, The Athletic, 28 July 2024
Higher quality wines are layered and complex with aromas and flavors that include bread dough, brioche, nuttiness and a creamy caramel/toffee/butterscotch lilt that is both remarkably satisfying and begging to be paired with rich food.
—Tom Mullen, Forbes, 24 Nov. 2024
Verb
Their small sounds and snuffles were barely audible above the lilting bleeps of incubators in the neonatal ward.
—Hajar Harb, Washington Post, 17 Nov. 2023
Sauvé is extremely soft-spoken, her slight Quebecois accent lilting over the crowd’s hush.
—Cameron Cook, Pitchfork, 7 Nov. 2023
See All Example Sentences for lilt
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lilt
Noun
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There isn’t even any awkwardness about the clash of accents.—
Charles McNulty,
Los Angeles Times,
19 Mar. 2025
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Actor Ryan Gosling told The Project his daughters’ accents are from the show.—
Leena Tailor,
The Hollywood Reporter,
18 Mar. 2025
Verb
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The commercial encouraged those in attendance at the stadium to croon along to the familiar tune, which most people likely knew.—
Hugh McIntyre,
Forbes,
21 Feb. 2025
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In college, Cedric was in singing groups, crooning harmonies with others.—
Michael Schneider,
Variety,
13 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Despite the issues with the Falcon 9, SpaceX has maintained a remarkable launch cadence.—
Stephen Clark,
Ars Technica,
14 Mar. 2025
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The global business world is getting more complicated by the day, especially through the chaotic cadence of new tariff enactments and threats.—
Megan Poinski,
Forbes,
13 Mar. 2025
Verb
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The whole montage was respectful and gracious, with a classical score, rather than a pop chipmunk warbling a sensitive ballad about dead people.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
3 Mar. 2025
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Peggy Seeger’s 1957 recording of it is a brisk, warbling take with arpeggiated acoustic guitar — a classic example of the kind of carefree-songbird tunes from the early folk revival.—
Ben Sisario,
New York Times,
24 Feb. 2025
Noun
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There was no blood, but the violence had rhythm, like a theater of fear. Inside the intake room, a sea of trustees descended on the men with electric shavers, stripping heads of hair with haste.—
Philip Holsinger,
TIME,
21 Mar. 2025
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His beats have lots of detail but no fixed center, creating rhythms that call to mind choppy waves or a record that’s stuck in a groove.—
Spencer Kornhaber,
The Atlantic,
21 Mar. 2025
Verb
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The world’s second-largest economy continues to face a range of challenges, from job insecurity among the younger generation to sharp downturns in the property sector, once a cornerstone of the country’s economic growth.—
Hassan Tayir,
CNN,
5 Feb. 2025
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The former president's endorsement process has evolved from haphazard to sharp and effective, rendering all other endorsements all but obsolete.—
Kaleigh Rogers,
ABC News,
13 Sep. 2024
Verb
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There’s absolutely no reason constraints ought to hum.—
Emma Alpern,
Vulture,
14 Mar. 2025
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Joe Raedle/Getty Images For more than a century, the U.S. and Canada have sold each other electricity through power lines that criss-cross the border, an arrangement that has historically hummed along thanks to the warm relationship between the two countries.—
Joe Hernandez,
NPR,
12 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Her soft-focus voice floats over trilling mandolin picking and reserved fiddle.—
Jessica Nicholson,
Billboard,
10 Mar. 2025
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Sardi’s, so synonymous with that time on Broadway, is bathed in a golden glow, the piano trilling through its empty space.—
Stephanie Bunbury,
Deadline,
18 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Lilt.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lilt. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.
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