How to Use tinny in a Sentence

tinny

adjective
  • So there’s just something tinny about him.
    — Shikha Dalmia, Washington Post, 13 Oct. 2025
  • That same swish is a tinny laugh in the face when your armpits are chafing.
    — Joe Jackson, Outside Online, 10 Oct. 2022
  • This should result in audio that is clearer, crisper and less tinny.
    — Jacob Krol, CNN Underscored, 15 Oct. 2019
  • The triumphant sound of Afrobeat blares from small, tinny speakers perched atop the kitchen counter.
    — Yasmin Khan, Harper's BAZAAR, 20 June 2021
  • Then the chickpeas are tossed around in whatever is left (not to crisp, but to take the tinny edge off).
    — Alison Roman, New York Times, 21 Oct. 2019
  • There are several ways to enhance your tunes above the tinny sound on your laptop.
    — Jamie Gold, Forbes.com, 23 June 2026
  • Her words filled the center, needing little help from her tinny speaker.
    — New York Times, 29 June 2019
  • Things soon calm down and the engine falls into its low-energy mode, which sounds a bit tinny to my ear.
    — Dan Neil, WSJ, 12 Dec. 2018
  • And not just tinny, music from your smartphone that's barely loud enough to hear, but something that sounds good.
    — Samantha Gordon, USA TODAY, 20 Mar. 2018
  • As the sun set, news from Memphis broke into the music on his tinny radio.
    — Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 29 Mar. 2026
  • The images and tinny voices on the black-and-white TV stirred something else.
    — Connie Dufner, Dallas News, 16 July 2019
  • The sound from the speakers is somewhat tinny and awkwardly loud for people in the room who may be facing the back of the screen.
    — Popular Science, 15 Oct. 2020
  • The piano’s sound was a little tinny over the stream, but the performance was inspired, and moving.
    — New York Times, 13 Mar. 2020
  • The only sound may be the tinny tones of a satellite-navigation device.
    — The Economist, 12 Sep. 2019
  • Treble tones are often tinny, giving the listener a headache.
    — Mark Sparrow, Forbes, 5 Apr. 2021
  • The anticipation builds as the oil comes to temperature and the first tinny pop rings out.
    — S. Whitney Holmes, The New Yorker, 26 Nov. 2019
  • Her voice was tinny, a child’s, with a child’s manipulation edging around the distress.
    — Alix Ohlin, The New Yorker, 30 Jan. 2017
  • The sound coming from the 2-watt speaker was tinny and shallow, not unlike a smartphone speaker.
    — Samantha Gordon, USA TODAY, 1 Sep. 2017
  • Pocket parks double as public gyms, Vietnamese pop thrums from tinny speakers.
    — Chris Schalkx, Condé Nast Traveler, 14 Nov. 2025
  • Build quality is top-notch, but the doors sound hollow and tinny, especially when shut hard from the outside.
    — Drew Dorian, Car and Driver, 3 Sep. 2017
  • Choose the wrong-sized tip and the ANC function won’t work properly and the sound will be weak and tinny.
    — Mark Sparrow, Forbes, 5 Apr. 2021
  • Stop listening to those tinny TV speakers, and be sure to check out our full buying guide for more info.
    — Parker Hall, Wired, 27 Nov. 2020
  • Instead of a tinny audible click, modders feel the bump of a modern motor when flying around the device's click wheel.
    — Brendan Nystedt, Wired, 17 Mar. 2022
  • The pendulum guides her to smudge the room with sage before gently tapping orchestral gongs, tuning forks, and tinny bells.
    — Jessica Wright Weinstock, Glamour, 12 Mar. 2018
  • Another, in New York again, heard the tinny sound of music blasted from an iPhone from far down the street.
    — Jessica Gross august 8, Literary Hub, 8 Aug. 2025
  • This unnerving haze will come via the tinny effect of a Courtney Love album played through a phone speaker.
    — Vogue, 16 Sep. 2019
  • The tinny percussion of punta rock from a dockside bar and shouts of fishermen cleaning their nets gave way to a cottony silence.
    — Julien Capmeil, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 Mar. 2020
  • This isn't like Switch's Dark Souls port, in terms of tinny compression making weapons and voices sound like trash.
    — Sam MacHkovech, Ars Technica, 4 June 2020
  • The air grows closer and my ears tune into tinny whistles of crickets, the calls of unfamiliar birds, and the distant howl of a monkey.
    — Lucy Sherriff, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Apr. 2018
  • The song’s a slow burn, and languishes in its smoothness before picking up with tinny percussion to lead into the groovy chorus.
    — Tamar Herman, Billboard, 18 Apr. 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tinny.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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