pitchy

1 of 2

adjective (1)

ˈpi-chē

: full of pitch : tarry

pitchy wood/lumber

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

a pitchy substance/residue

: pitch-black

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

Rudyard Kipling

pitchy

2 of 2

adjective (2)

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

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

Example Sentences

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

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 The pitchy rendition kicked off a night dedicated to celebrating the team ahead of the upcoming NBA season.

BostonGlobe.com, 19 Oct. 2019 At times the vocals felt a bit pitchy for both Cruz and Umoh, but the emotional portrayal Cruz gives to Eliza's character after tragedy repeatedly befalls her family in Act II redeems any misgivings about her vocal prowess from Act I.

Kathryn Gregory, The Courier-Journal, 6 June 2019 Although the program got off to a pitchy start, things eventually seemed to smooth out.

Jennifer Aldrich, Country Living, 15 Nov. 2018 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'pitchy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.