Sunday Word: Stentorian

[sallymn]

stentorian [sten-tawr-ee-uhn, -tohr-]

adjective:
very loud or powerful in sound; booming

Examples:

There is, of course, our old friend Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen), leader of the Autobots, who transforms out of a cool red Freightliner semi-truck and issues his commands in a voice that's noble, stentorian, maybe even a dash Shakespearean. (Owen Gleiberman, 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts' Review: A Less Bombastic, More Relatable Sequel Shows That There's Still Life in the Machine, Variety, June 2023)

Sprint launched another one of its commercials yesterday featuring James Earl Jones and Malcolm McDowell using their stentorian 'actor!' tones to re-enact the trivial conversations of everyday folks. (Jim Edwards, James Earl Jones And Malcolm McDowell Re-Enact A Facebook Comments War - And It's Hilarious, Business Insider, November 2013)

Instead of iambic pentameter, characters in The King speak in what we might call Game of Thrones English, a blend of short staccato sentences, stentorian pronouncements, a few old-timey phrasings, and frequent cursing. (Nate Jones, How The King Rewrites Shakespeare’s Most Famous Dialogue, Vulture, November 2019)

Instead when our hi-jinks reached a crescendo, a well-timed bellow from the head of the house, our military grandfather, promptly and firmly put a lid on it. (Janardhan Roye, Opera Moments, The Times of India, April 2008)

"What does this knave want with me?" said he, in stentorian tones, which rendered the entire hall attentive to this strange colloquy. "Don't you see that I am one of them?" (Victor Hugo, Notre-Dame de Paris)

Origin:

'of powerful voice; extremely loud,' c. 1600, from Stentor, the name of the legendary Greek herald in the Trojan War, whose voice (described in the Iliad) was as loud as 50 men. His name is from Greek stenein 'groan, moan,' from PIE imitative root (s)ten-, source of Old English þunor 'thunder.' Stentorious was used in 16c. (Online Etymology Dictionary)

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

Comments

[med_cat]

A great word :)

[sallymn]

And fun to say!