What does clitter mean?
Clitter means to produce a rapid succession of short, sharp rattling or clattering sounds, and it can also serve as a noun naming such a noise itself. It belongs to the family of English onomatopoeic words — alongside click, clack, and clatter — whose forms directly mimic the sounds they describe. Largely confined to dialect use and literary writing today, clitter appears most often in its reduplicated form 'clitter-clatter', a vivid way to evoke the irregular clanking of loose boards, crockery, or stony debris. Writers reach for it when they want a lighter, more scattered texture of noise than 'crash' or 'bang' suggests: pebbles clittering down a hillside, shutters clittering in the wind. Though rare in everyday modern conversation, it remains useful precisely because so few common verbs capture this particular small-scale rattling quality, giving prose an exact and musical touch of sound.
To make a succession of short, sharp rattling or clattering sounds.
"Loose coins clittered across the wooden floor as she tipped out her purse."
Chiefly dialectal; often heard in the reduplicated form 'clitter-clatter'.
A rattling or clattering noise.
"From the kitchen came the steady clitter of cutlery being sorted."
Dialectal and rare; more often encountered in literary descriptions of ambient noise.
As a countable noun referring to instances or bursts of rattling sound; rare and largely dialectal.
"We heard faint clitters of gravel under the barn swallows' feet."
Clitter gave English the delightfully noisy phrase 'clitter-clatter' — proof that some words exist just because they sound like what they mean.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of clitter
Clitter is an onomatopoeic formation, coined in imitation of rattling sounds much like its cousins click, clack, and clatter, which share the same initial 'cl-' cluster typical of words imitating sharp impacts. It has long existed in northern English dialect and is attested from at least the early modern period. The familiar reduplicated phrase 'clitter-clatter' reflects the common English pattern of pairing rhyming imitative syllables to intensify the sense of repeated noise.
Related word forms
How clitter is actually used
A chiefly dialectal and somewhat archaic word, clitter survives mostly in regional British speech and literary prose, often reduplicated as 'clitter-clatter'. Its onomatopoeic quality makes it evocative for describing small, irregular metallic or stony noises rather than heavy, sustained crashing.
Easily confused with clitter
Glitter means to shine with bright, flashing points of light, whereas clitter means to make rattling sounds.
Clutter refers to filling a space with disorderly things or the disorder itself, while clitter is purely about making a rattling sound.