Timbre is described through a rich vocabulary of quality adjectives

Evidence

Timbre to sound quality descriptions include: mellow, rich, covered, open, dull, bright, dark, strident, grating, harsh, shrill, sonorous, somber, colorless and lackluster. Timbral descriptors are therefore used to indicate the perceived quality or tonal nature of a sound which can have a particular pitch and loudness also. — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1450

Categorization

• DEFINE: Lists the everyday vocabulary used for timbre, including cross-sensory color terms like bright/dark/sonorous.