pitchy

1 of 2

adjective (1)

ˈpi-chē 

1

a

: full of pitch : tarry

pitchy wood/lumber

b

: of, relating to, or having the qualities of pitch

a pitchy substance/residue

2

: pitch-black

They were left in the pitchy darkness of a windy winter's night.

—Rudyard Kipling

pitchy

2 of 2

adjective (2)

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

2

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

Synonyms

Adjective (1)

• black
• caliginous
• dark
• darkened
• darkish
• darkling
• darksome
• dim
• dimmed
• dusk
• dusky
• gloomy
• lightless
• murky
• obscure
• obscured
• pitch-black
• pitch-dark
• rayless
• somber
• sombre
• stygian
• tenebrific
• tenebrous
• unlit

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

Adjective

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

Mindy fears performing after her viral, pitchy moment, but theatre fans know that Park would never shy away from the stage. —Ariana Brockington, refinery29.com, 4 Oct. 2020

Hammock hasn’t shown off any tricks all season, sometimes slipping into pitchy territory. —Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya, Billboard, 9 Dec. 2019

Word History

Etymology

Adjective (1)

pitch entry 1 + -y entry 1

Adjective (2)

pitch entry 4 + -y entry 1

First Known Use

Adjective (1)

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adjective (2)

1997, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

pitchy

adjective

ˈpich-ē 

1

a

: full of pitch : tarry

b

: of, relating to, or having the qualities of pitch

2

: pitch-black