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 Rhodan
Synonyms
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 WebAriana 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
See More
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
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pitchy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Dictionary Entries Near pitchy
Cite this Entry
“Pitchy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pitchy. Accessed 4 Dec. 2023.
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Kids Definition
pitchy
adjective1
a
: full of pitch : tarry
b
: of, relating to, or having the qualities of pitch
2
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