screech
[skɹit͡ʃ]noun, verb
screech is spelled S-C-R-E-E-C-H: 7 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 33,636th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, screech means “A high-pitched strident or piercing sound, such as that between a moving object and any surface” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of screech is screeches.
How many letters and syllables are in screech?
| Letters | 7: S-C-R-E-E-C-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 33,636th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is screech?
Screech appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 33,636th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce screech?
- /skɹiːt͡ʃ/
- UK [skɹiːt͡ʃ]
- US [skɹit͡ʃ]
Screech has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-screech.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of screech
- screeches plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- screeching participle, present
- screeched participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does screech mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A high-pitched strident or piercing sound, such as that between a moving object and any surface.
- 2
A harsh, shrill cry, as of one in acute pain or in fright; a shriek; a scream.
- 3
Newfoundland rum.
- 4
A form of home-made rye whiskey made from used oak rye barrels from a distillery.
verb
- 1
To make such a sound.
- 2
To travel very fast, as if making the sound of a car that is driving too fast.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Screech in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | crissement , striduler |
| German | Kreischen, Quietschen , kreischen, quietschen , Aufschreien |
| Portuguese | chiado , chiar |
| Spanish | chirrido , rechinar, chirriar, estridular |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does screech come from?
1602; altered with expressive vowel lengthening from earlier skrech (1577), variant of obsolete scritch, from Middle English skriken, shrichen, schrichen (1250), from Old English (attested as scriccettan) and Old Norse skríkja, both from Proto-Germanic *skrīkijaną (compare Icelandic skríkja, Old Saxon scricōn, Danish skrige, Swedish skrika), derivative of *skrīhaną (compare Middle Dutch schriën, German schreien, Low German dial. schrien, schriegen), ultimately of imitative origin.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).