banner



Home  ›  How To Describe Voice In Writing

How To Describe Voice In Writing

Written By Monday, November 8, 2021 Add Comment Edit
  1. Haze-world

    Haze-world Active Member

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2015
    Messages:
    115
    Likes Received:
    51
    Location:
    UK
    Does anyone know of a resource which we can go to for ideas on how to describe someone's voice?

    I would love to be able to add that detail to my WIP because voices are important to me and would make my characters easier to imagine.

  2. A quick google has revealed this article.
  3. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

    This might be of some help. :p
    • adenoidal (adj): if someone's voice is adenoidal, some of the sound seems to come through their nose
    • appealing (adj): an appealing look/voice shows that you want help, approval, or agreement
    • breathy (adj): with loud breathing noises
    • brittle (adj): if you speak in a brittle voice, you sound as if you are about to cry
    • croaky (adj): if someone's voice sounds croaky, they speak in a low, rough voice that sounds as if they have a sore throat
    • dead (adj): if someone's eyes or voice are dead, they feel or show no emotion
    • disembodied (adj): a disembodied voice comes from someone who you cannot see
    • flat (adj): spoken in a voice that does not go up and down; this word is often used for describing the speech of people from a particular region
    • fruity (adj): a fruity voice or laugh is deep and strong in a pleasant way
    • grating (adj): a grating voice, laugh, or sound is unpleasant and annoying
    • gravelly (adj): a gravelly voice sounds low and rough
    • gruff (adj): this voice has a rough, low sound
    • guttural (adj): a guttural sound is deep and made at the back of your throat
    • high-pitched (adj): true to its name, a high-pitched voice or sound is very high
    • hoarse (adj): someone who is hoarse, or has a hoarse voice, speaks in a low, rough voice, usually because their throat is sore
    • honeyed (adj): honeyed words or a honeyed voice sound very nice, but you cannot trust the person who is speaking
    • husky (adj): a husky voice is deep and sounds hoarse (as if you have a sore throat), often in an attractive way
    • low (adj): a low voice is quiet and difficult to hear; also used for describing a deep voice that has a long wavelength
    • matter-of-fact (adj): usually used if the person speaking knows what they are talking about (or absolutely think they know what they are talking about)
    • modulated (adj): a modulated voice is controlled and pleasant to listen to
    • monotonous (adj): this kind of voice is boring and unpleasant due to the fact that it does not change in loudness or become higher/lower
    • nasal (adj): someone with a nasal voice sounds as if they are speaking through their nose
    • orotund (adj): an orotund voice is loud and clear
    • penetrating (adj): a penetrating voice is so high or loud that it makes you slightly uncomfortable
    • plummy (adj): a plummy voice or way of speaking is considered to be typical of an English person of a high social class; this word shows that you dislike people who speak like this
    • quietly (adj): in a soft, quiet voice
    • raucous (adj): a raucous voice or noise is loud and sounds rough
    • ringing (adj): a ringing voice is very loud and clear
    • rough (adj): a rough voice is not soft and is unpleasant to listen to
    • shrill (adj): a shrill voice is very loud, high, and unpleasant
    • silvery (adj): this voice is clear, light, and pleasant
    • singsong (adj): if you speak in a singsong voice, your voice rises and falls in a musical way
    • small (adj): a small voice is quiet
    • smoky (adj): a smoky voice is sexually attractive in a slightly mysterious way
    • softly spoken (adj): someone who is softly spoken has a quiet, gentle voice
    • soft-spoken (adj): speaking or said in a quiet, gentle voice
    • sotto voce (adj, adv): in a very quiet voice
    • stentorian (adj): a stentorian voice sounds very loud and severe
    • strangled (adj): a strangled sound is one that someone stops before they finish making it
    • strident (adj): this voice is loud and unpleasant
    • taut (adj): used about something such as a voice that shows someone is nervous or angry
    • thick (adj): if your voice is thick with an emotion, it sounds less clear than usual because of the emotion
    • thickly (adv): with a low voice that comes mostly from your throat
    • thin (adj): a thin voice or sound is high and unpleasant to listen to
    • throaty (adj): a throaty sound is low and seems to come from deep in your throat
    • tight (adj): shows that you are nervous or annoyed
    • toneless (adj): does not express any emotion
    • tremulous (adj): if your voice is tremulous, it is not steady; for example, because you are afraid or excited
    • wheezy (adj): a wheezy noise sounds as if it is made by someone who has difficulty breathing
    • wobbly (adj): if your voice is wobbly, it goes up and down, usually because you are frightened, not confident, or are going to cry
    • booming (adj): very loud and attention-getting
    • quavering (adv): if your voice quavers, it is not steady because you are feeling nervous or afraid
    • a voice like a foghorn: very loud voice
    • in an undertone: using a quiet voice so that someone cannot hear you
    • someone's dulcet tones: the sound of someone's voice as they speak
  4. Oh I think that will be a resource to a whole lot of people, not only the OP. Not to mention, me! :)
  5. Haze-world

    Haze-world Active Member

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2015
    Messages:
    115
    Likes Received:
    51
    Location:
    UK
  6. Haze-world

    Haze-world Active Member

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2015
    Messages:
    115
    Likes Received:
    51
    Location:
    UK

    Thanks for this too, Cave Troll.

    What about the kind of voice that's not sing song, but emphatic and the opposite to flat?

  7. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

  8. Haze-world

    Haze-world Active Member

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2015
    Messages:
    115
    Likes Received:
    51
    Location:
    UK

    I shall read with even more interest then... I'm trying to imagine your MC's voices now, ha!
  9. Haze-world

    Haze-world Active Member

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2015
    Messages:
    115
    Likes Received:
    51
    Location:
    UK

    OK, thanks. I don't think Melodic is right. I know people who speak with melodic voices and their voices are almost in a melody and definitely different from what I am trying to describe.
  10. BrianIff

    BrianIff I'm so piano, a bad punctuator. Contributor

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2015
    Messages:
    1,288
    Likes Received:
    432
    Location:
    Canada
  11. Haze-world

    Haze-world Active Member

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2015
    Messages:
    115
    Likes Received:
    51
    Location:
    UK

    I have never come across this word before. The definition fits exactly with what I am describing. Many thanks BrianIff!
  12. BrianIff

    BrianIff I'm so piano, a bad punctuator. Contributor

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2015
    Messages:
    1,288
    Likes Received:
    432
    Location:
    Canada
    For a bit, I was thinking of how newscasters talk and their inflections, but didn't know that 'cadence' could be something besides a noun till I looked it up. Glad I could help.
  13. Haze-world

    Haze-world Active Member

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2015
    Messages:
    115
    Likes Received:
    51
    Location:
    UK

    That makes sense. When I checked the definition I saw cadence is often used to describe poetry, is that what you write?
  14. BrianIff

    BrianIff I'm so piano, a bad punctuator. Contributor

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2015
    Messages:
    1,288
    Likes Received:
    432
    Location:
    Canada
    Not often, but aside from hearing it :p a few times, I was living there when this guy was named Edmonton's poet laureate: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadence_Weapon
  15. Haze-world

    Haze-world Active Member

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2015
    Messages:
    115
    Likes Received:
    51
    Location:
    UK

    Ha! Well, having checked out your link I now appreciate the humour in your reply! It appears that I just keep on learning new things all the time...
    :supersmile:
  16. A sad day it would be indeed when there will be nothing more to learn. Or even worse, if nothing will be learned.
  17. Not sure if you used this source but it's always a good idea to credit the source.
    Last edited: Dec 25, 2015
  18. Haze-world

    Haze-world Active Member

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2015
    Messages:
    115
    Likes Received:
    51
    Location:
    UK

    :supersmile:Thanks GingerCoffee, I will credit these useful sources below:
    1) The link from Necronox takes you to, 'Fifty five ways to describe a voice', on Tumblr.
    2) The link from Cave Troll takes you to the 'Macmillan dictionary'.
  19. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

    Well I would have sourced it if I had not already posted the important part. Saves time that way. Besides I am not using this for monetary gain anywho.:p

Share This Page

How To Describe Voice In Writing

Source: https://www.writingforums.org/threads/ways-to-describe-a-voice.143389/

Posted by: walshculdrought78.blogspot.com

0 Response to "How To Describe Voice In Writing"

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Iklan Atas Artikel

Iklan Tengah Artikel 1

Iklan Tengah Artikel 2

Iklan Bawah Artikel