ventriloquial

English

Etymology

From ventriloquy +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /vɛntɹɪˈləʊkwɪəl/

Adjective

ventriloquial (comparative more ventriloquial, superlative most ventriloquial)

1. Of or relating to ventriloquy.
   • 1924, Ford Madox Ford, Some Do Not… (Parade's End), Penguin, published 2012, page 125:

     Her voice came, muffled, as if from the back of the top of his head. The ventriloquial effect was startling.

   • 2001 June 1, Jay Kirk, “Preachin' Puppets”, in Chicago Reader‎^[1]:

     Learn the ventriloquial alphabet: A C D E G H I J K L N O Q R S T U X Z

2. Spoken to oneself.
   • 1915, William J. Locke, Jaffery‎^[2]:

     He threw half-crowns up into the air until they disappeared into the central blue, and then held a ventriloquial conversation, not in the best of taste, with the celestial spirits, who having caught the coins announced their intention of sticking to them.

3. Of bird vocalisations, sounding as though emanating from a location other than where the vocalising bird is.
   • 2005, Sean Dooley, The Big Twitch, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 246:

     We tried this a couple of times with no luck whatsoever, partly because whipbirds are notoriously ventriloquial and we could never agree on where the call was coming from.