trilling 1 of 2

Definition of trillingnext

trilling

2 of 2

verb

present participle of trill
as in quavering
to sing with the alternation of two musical tones a bluebird trilled outside our window

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of trilling
Verb
Rock Harbor to Daisy Farm Campground This trail almost entirely follows the coast for 7 miles, with a soundtrack of lapping waves, trilling loons, and the occasional outboard motor. Robert Annis, Midwest Living, 7 June 2026 In a now-viral clip, Carpenter overheard someone from the crowd trilling during her set for Weekend 1 and asked if the audience member was yodeling. Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 11 Apr. 2026 Sounds of loud trilling shouts after silent hunts, and singing. Literary Hub, 3 Nov. 2025 The blast furnace of volcanoes has fallen silent, replaced by birdsong trilling from the branches and echoing through a garden of exotic stone. Roger Naylor, AZCentral.com, 29 Aug. 2025 Expect to marvel at saddles blanketed in blueberries and multi-hued wildflowers, marmots trilling their warnings, ibex perched on rocky spines, and neon critters that wiggle and hop underfoot. Wendy Altschuler, Forbes.com, 16 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for trilling
Adjective
  • Nine’s creaking, warbling cadence makes for a Thug/Carti hybrid that’s distinct but still close enough to be familiar and palatable.
    Olivier Lafontant, Pitchfork, 16 Apr. 2026
  • The song may be six minutes long, but the circuitous lope of his acoustic-guitar strum and low throb of his warbling feel eternal, like the type of tune Sisyphus might have hummed to keep himself company.
    Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2025
Verb
  • The governor, Tim Walz, defeated for the Vice Presidency, gets on TV, his voice quavering, saying the right things, speaking the truth, and advising courage.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 29 Jan. 2026
  • The combination of quavering flutes and solemn, unfamiliar corridors is disquieting.
    Hazlitt, Hazlitt, 10 Dec. 2025
Verb
  • Their soccer fans will soon swarm Boston and Providence ahead of the World Cup and those cities are getting ready for chanting, drinking, and marching.
    Mike Sullivan, CBS News, 3 June 2026
  • Positioned on opposite sides of the street, video footage shows the groups chanting, playing instruments and carrying signs both in favor and against Anthony – with the crowd of counter-demonstrators also carrying a large sign with Metcalf’s photo.
    Julia Bonavita, FOXNews.com, 2 June 2026
Adjective
  • Zendaya and Domingo do great, resonant work, but even their empathetic portraits of suffering people can’t make this strange coda cohere.
    Alison Herman, Variety, 1 June 2026
  • The track, which is the resonant chime of the Sacred Bell of Great King Seongdeok, blends with the room's spatial stillness and imagery, setting the experience in motion.
    Laura Sirikul, Forbes.com, 31 May 2026
Adjective
  • The pacing is erratic and the sonorous voice-over narration doesn’t help either.
    Randy Myers, Mercury News, 13 May 2026
  • Metals are particularly sonorous, as anyone who has been around toddlers (and pots and pans) can testify.
    New Atlas, New Atlas, 2 May 2026
Adjective
  • There has never quite been a critical or scholarly consensus about them, but Bellini, whose music is suspended somewhere between Rossini’s precise brilliance and Donizetti’s rhetorical force, can move audiences with his melodic facility.
    Arya Roshanian, The New York Review of Books, 6 June 2026
  • Where most conversations are half-silent, important figures in Rimbaud’s life are embodied by musical instruments, ranging from overbearing tubas to melodic strings, depending on who’s speaking and their place in the story.
    Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 2 June 2026
Adjective
  • Instead the result is very wearable, playful, fantastic apparel, pieces built with strength to them that is incredibly appealing.
    Rachel Elspeth Gross, Forbes.com, 6 June 2026
  • As luxury linen has moved into the mainstream to become one of the softest bedding options, a major bonus is that a far more appealing range of price points and color options are now dominating the market.
    Nashia Baker, Architectural Digest, 6 June 2026
Adjective
  • The temptation to go with Krick’s more pleasant (and somehow more spiritually American) forecast is obviously great.
    Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 29 May 2026
  • Walker Buehler has been a pleasant and necessary surprise, even providing the Padres with the occasional quality start.
    Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 May 2026

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Trilling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/trilling. Accessed 11 Jun. 2026.

More from Merriam-Webster on trilling

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster