guttural
adjective
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Get your mind out of the gutter. Despite appearances, guttural is not related to the English word gutter; that word comes ultimately from the Latin verb gutta, meaning “drop,” while guttural has a different Latin root: the noun guttur, meaning “throat.” Since the late 1500s guttural has been used to describe sounds that are formed or pronounced in the throat, from cries and sobs to howls and grunts. A second sense, describing sounds or utterances which strike the listener as harsh or disagreeable (as in “the guttural roar of a motorcycle engine disturbed the afternoon’s quiet”) followed. A new sense appears to be developing as well, describing things that are instinctively or deeply felt irrespective of grunts or noises from the throat, as in “a guttural response/reaction,” but this sense has yet to meet the criteria for inclusion in our dictionary.
Examples of guttural in a Sentence
Dina Kraft, The Christian Science Monitor, 23 Oct. 2024
In that film, as her character Amber (spoiler alert!) heads to her comically bloody death, Madison goes from steely-faced to positively feral, unleashing guttural screeches and flailing her limbs as if possessed.
—Rachel Brodsky, Rolling Stone, 18 Oct. 2024
There’s no super complicated hybrid system and that means there’s nothing between you and the guttural roar of that 621-horsepower engine.
—Kyle Hyatt, Robb Report, 19 Sep. 2024
The guttural howling of dorm dudes fragging each other was the soundtrack to higher education.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for guttural 
Dictionary Entries Near guttural
Cite this Entry
“Guttural.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/guttural. Accessed 4 Dec. 2024.
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guttural
adjective
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guttural
adjective
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