The Greek herald Stentor was known for having a voice that came through loud and clear. In fact, in the Iliad, Homer described Stentor as a man whose voice was as loud as that of fifty men together. Stentor's powerful voice made him a natural choice for delivering announcements and proclamations to the assembled Greek army during the Trojan War, and it also made his name a byword for any person with a loud, strong voice. Both the noun stentor and the related adjective stentorian pay homage to the big-voiced warrior, and both have been making noise in English since the early 17th century.
earsplitting implies loudness that is physically discomforting.
the earsplitting sound of a siren
raucous implies a loud harsh grating tone, especially of voice, and may suggest rowdiness.
the raucous shouts of drunken revelers
strident implies a rasping discordant but insistent quality, especially of voice.
the strident voices of hecklers
Example Sentences
the professor's stentorian voice was enough to keep even the drowsiest student awake
Recent Examples on the WebVocal standouts included Máté Sólyom-Nagy’s rugged Figaro, Florence Losseau’s spicy Cherubino, and Kakhaber Shavidze’s stentorian Bartolo. Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 13 June 2022 The stentorian bass Franz-Josef Selig made a robust, good-natured Daland.New York Times, 3 Mar. 2020 Unfortunately, Pressley’s stentorian affect detracts from the authenticity of the dialogue between Washington and his contemporaries, undermining Coe’s argument that the founders were people too, just like us. Tatiana Schlossberg, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2020 His replacement as the Dutchman, Evgeny Nikitin, was monochromatic and stentorian, and his steely bass-baritone expressed none of the Dutchman’s anguish or mystery. Heidi Waleson, WSJ, 4 Mar. 2020 On the eve of the game’s release, one fan stitched together a trailer, backed by a stentorian soundtrack, highlighting the variety of media that had been created. Simon Parkin, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2020 Sadly, Roberto Alagna, as Samson, started out the night wobbly and stentorian, and despite some moments of ringing power, his tenor shredded audibly as the night progressed, concluding with a painful yelp. Heidi Waleson, WSJ, 1 Oct. 2018 Showerman is the least effective actor in the bunch, affecting a stentorian voice and officious manner that come across as parodic. Donna Freedman, Anchorage Daily News, 23 Oct. 2019 The transition to these new tones had been masked, so the tragic-hued change came as a gentle surprise, all the more effective for having being delivered without any obvious, stentorian announcement. Seth Colter Walls, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2018 See More