hoarse

[hawrs, hohrs] /hɔrs, hoʊrs/
adjective, hoarser, hoarsest.
1.
having a vocal tone characterized by weakness of intensity and excessive breathiness; husky:
the hoarse voice of the auctioneer.
2.
having a raucous voice.
3.
making a harsh, low sound.
Origin
1350-1400; Middle English hors < Old Norse *hārs (assumed variant of hāss); replacing Middle English hoos, Old English hās, cognate with Old High German heis, Old Saxon hēs
Related forms
hoarsely, adverb
hoarseness, noun
Can be confused
hoarse, horse.
Synonyms
1. harsh, grating; throaty, rough.
Examples from the web for hoarse
  • Key symptoms include hives, hoarse voice, and wheezing.
  • The cashier was coughing and sniffling and talking in a hoarse voice while handling my food items.
  • While he likes to be alone, she is so gregarious and talkative her voice is constantly hoarse.
  • He carried on gamely even when his voice grew raspy and hoarse midway through the twenty-minute speech.
  • In a hoarse, faint voice he reviewed the case and concluded that the jury's verdict had been justified by the evidence.
  • The voice may be hoarse but can be normal, with the lesion discoverable only by laryngoscopy.
  • Nunu screamed herself hoarse as the physio gently moved her stiff legs.
  • There's punk, any simple chord progression played faster than mid-tempo with aggression and hoarse vocals.
  • First and above all, a good many of the crack canines were too hoarse to bark, much less could they think of howling.
  • Still, the more he speaks, the less hoarse he seems.
British Dictionary definitions for hoarse

hoarse

/hɔːs/
adjective
1.
gratingly harsh or raucous in tone
2.
low, harsh, and lacking in intensity: a hoarse whisper
3.
having a husky voice, as through illness, shouting, etc
Derived Forms
hoarsely, adverb
hoarseness, noun
Word Origin
C14: of Scandinavian origin; related to Old Norse hās, Old Saxon hēs
Word Origin and History for hoarse
adj.

late 14c., hors, earlier hos, from Old English has "hoarse," from Proto-Germanic *haisa- (cf. Old Saxon hes, Old Norse hass, Dutch hees, Old High German heisi, German heiser "hoarse"), perhaps originally meaning "dried out, rough." The -r- is difficult to explain; it is first attested c.1400, but it may indicate an unrecorded Old English variant *hars. Related: Hoarsely; hoarseness.

hoarse in Medicine

hoarse (hôrs)
adj. hoars·er, hoars·est

  1. Rough or grating in sound, as of a voice.

  2. Having or characterized by a husky, grating voice.