stentorian
pronunciation
How to pronounce stentorian in British English:
UK [stenˈtɔ:riən]
How to pronounce stentorian in American English:
US [stɛnˈtɔriən, -ˈtor-]
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- Adjective:
- used of the voice
Word Origin
- stentorian
- stentorian: [17] Stentor was a Greek warrior in the Trojan war, whose abnormally loud voice earned him the job of herald (his name was derived from the Greek verb sténein ‘groan, moan’). Stentorian, based on late Latin stentoreus or Greek stentóreios, commemorates his carrying tones.
- stentorian (adj.)
- "of powerful voice," c. 1600, from Stentor, legendary Greek herald in the Trojan War, whose voice (described in the "Iliad") was as loud as 50 men. His name is from Greek stenein "groan, moan," from PIE imitative root *(s)ten-, source of Old English þunor "thunder."
Example
- 1. His voice is so stentorian and penetrating and his style of performance is so contagious .
- 2. Speak softly ; you don 't need a stentorian voice to be heard in this small room .
- 3. But then we were drawn back to a year ago , watching mubarak address his nation , appealing in stentorian tones to his " sons and daughters " of egypt .
- 4. Raised above the street but still towered over by surrounding buildings , the elevated acre at 55 water street is an unexpected island of tranquility in new york 's stentorian sea .
- 5. He sought it desperately , for ages , and was still searching when the manager of the hotel entered , the fat dutchman . His face blazed with wrath , and he shouted in stentorian tones that echoed down the universe , " I shall deduct the cost of those cuffs from your wages ! "