Hoarsens

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. A state marked by a raspy or unclear voice due to strain or illness; a change in vocal sound that makes communication challenging; a quality of voice altered by overuse or external irritants leading to roughness
2. Develops a gritty or strained sound in speaking caused by irritation or overuse
3. The voice takes on a rasping quality that can signal tiredness or vocal damage

Etymology: Hoarsens is simply the third-person singular form of "hoarsen," so the story belongs to the verb itself. "Hoarse" is the older word, and the verb was built on it by adding the suffix "-en," a common English way of turning adjectives into verbs meaning "to make or become that quality." The suffix came down through Middle English from the Old English "-nian," which carried the same causative sense. Hoarsen therefore means, literally, "to make hoarse." The adjective "hoarse" has a long pedigree of its own, traced back through Germanic roots, but the verb is a plain, transparent derivation: the adjective plus a suffix that has been productive in English for well over a thousand years. Its meaning follows the adjective exactly, so a voice that is hoarsened has been strained, roughened or worn into a rasping quality.

Synonyms: croak, rasp

Antonyms: smoothen, clarify