chirriar

Spanish

Etymology

Onomatopoeic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t͡ʃiˈrjaɾ/ [t͡ʃiˈrjaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: chi‧rriar

Verb

chirriar (first-person singular present chirrío, first-person singular preterite chirrié, past participle chirriado)

1. (intransitive) to squeak, to creak, to screech (to emit a short, high-pitched sound)

   Synonym: chirrear

2. (intransitive, of birds, crickets etc.) to chirp (to make a short, sharp, cheerful note)
   • 1905, La chicharra y la rana:

     Entre las tupidas hojas de un árbol la chicharra chirriaba.

     Among the dense leaves of a tree, the cicada was chirping.

3. (intransitive, figurative) to be grating or abrasive

Conjugation

    Conjugation of chirriar (i-í alternation) (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			chirriar
gerund			chirriando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		chirriado		chirriada
		plural		chirriados		chirriadas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	chirrío	chirríastú chirriásvos	chirría	chirriamos	chirriáis	chirrían
	imperfect	chirriaba	chirriabas	chirriaba	chirriábamos	chirriabais	chirriaban
	preterite	chirrié	chirriaste	chirrió	chirriamos	chirriasteis	chirriaron
	future	chirriaré	chirriarás	chirriará	chirriaremos	chirriaréis	chirriarán
	conditional	chirriaría	chirriarías	chirriaría	chirriaríamos	chirriaríais	chirriarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	chirríe	chirríestú chirriésvos2	chirríe	chirriemos	chirriéis	chirríen
	imperfect (ra)	chirriara	chirriaras	chirriara	chirriáramos	chirriarais	chirriaran
	imperfect (se)	chirriase	chirriases	chirriase	chirriásemos	chirriaseis	chirriasen
	future1	chirriare	chirriares	chirriare	chirriáremos	chirriareis	chirriaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		chirríatú chirriávos	chirríe	chirriemos	chirriad	chirríen
	negative		no chirríes	no chirríe	no chirriemos	no chirriéis	no chirríen

¹Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tú form for the present subjunctive.

Derived terms

• chirriadero
• chirriador
• chirriante
• chirrido
• chirrión

 

Further reading

• “chirriar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10