hiss
verb (used without object)
to make or emit a sharp sound like that of the letter s prolonged, as a snake does, or as steam does when forced under pressure through a small opening.
hiss
1 American
[his]
/ hɪs /
verb (used without object)
-
hisses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
hissed,
past participle, past
-
hissing
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
hisses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
hissed,
past participle, past
-
hissing
present participle
noun
-
hisses
plural
Hiss
2
American
[his]
/ hɪs /
noun
hiss
1
British
/ hɪs /
noun
-
a voiceless fricative sound like that of a prolonged s
-
such a sound uttered as an exclamation of derision, contempt, etc, esp by an audience or crowd
-
electronics receiver noise with a continuous spectrum, caused by thermal agitation, shot noise, etc
interjection
verb
-
(intr) to produce or utter a hiss
-
(tr) to express with a hiss, usually to indicate derision or anger
-
(tr) to show derision or anger towards (a speaker, performer, etc) by hissing
Hiss
2
British
/ hɪs /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
hisssimple
-
hissessimple
-
have hissedperfect
-
has hissedperfect
-
am hissingprogressive
-
are hissingprogressive
-
is hissingprogressive
-
have been hissingperfect progressive
-
has been hissingperfect progressive
Past
-
hissedsimple
-
had hissedperfect
-
was hissingprogressive
-
were hissingprogressive
-
had been hissingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of hiss
1350–1400; Middle English hissen; probably imitative; compare Old English hyscan to jeer at, rail (derivative of husc jeering; cognate with Old Saxon, Old High German hosc )
Explanation
To hiss is to make a long s sound. Snakes are known to hiss, and sometimes unhappy audience members will hiss instead of booing. The sound you make when you hiss — also called a hiss — sounds just like the word itself. In fact, you can't say the word without hissing. This type of sound is also known as sibilance, a consonant that's pronounced when a stream of air passes through teeth that are touching or close together. A barista's steaming wand hisses as she foams milk, and some types of snakes hiss in warning.
Vocabulary lists containing hiss
Instead of "Said": Vexed Verbiage to Express Anger
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"LAFFF"
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Selection Vocabulary 4, Unit 4
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
So ginger ale and tonic water became sick-day staples in our home, a bottle uncapped with a satisfying carbonated hiss if someone had a fever.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
A symphonic mix of an espresso machine’s hiss, a ravenous juicer’s whir and ebullient Spanish welcomed me at my new favorite, Las Olas Cafe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025
Insults hit her with a knife-like hiss of air; fresh schemes get her charging around to Hildur Guðnadóttir’s tumultuous, percussive score.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2025
And so somewhere, between the hiss of butter and the smell of roasting chicken, she is still there, reminding every cook who’ll listen: “Brown food tastes good.”
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2025
There is the slow hiss of the air filters.
From "A Rover's Story" by Jasmine Warga
Nicki clapped back after Megan's new track Hiss appeared to reference her, and released her own diss track, Big Foot, in return.
From BBC ● Jan. 29, 2024
Just as his band Hiss Golden Messenger was beginning to earn attention, Taylor worked as Gerrard’s assistant at Duke University, where she briefly taught a course in documenting traditional music.
From New York Times ● Oct. 13, 2022
His belief was formed during his years in Congress, where he made his name investigating Alger Hiss, a former State Department official accused of spying for the Russians.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 26, 2022
Indeed, the last such request had been made by Alger Hiss, who had also been accused of espionage, and was summarily rejected by federal judge Richard Owen.
From Salon ● May 29, 2021
President Truman called the trial a "red herring," and Secretary of State Dean Acheson declared, "I do not intend to turn my back on Alger Hiss."
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
I’m particularly fond of how the Na’vi express themselves in hisses and coyote yips and exhale the foreign name Jake Sully like a sneeze.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 16, 2025
As the helium hisses out, the volunteers flatten the plastic skin, tucking in Snoopy’s ears or SpongeBob’s nose to prepare for the final roll.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 25, 2025
When Guillermo appears, Nandor hisses, “You are the enemy.”
From Salon ● Nov. 11, 2024
The only sounds definitively recorded from adult female ostriches were hisses.
From Science Daily ● May 23, 2024
"Jason, you may want to shut your mouth for a second," Max hisses.
From "The Sky at Our Feet" by Nadia Hashimi
The source of the stench was the canal itself, a stretch of sewage, chemicals and other unmentionables in “green water that hissed and bubbled like a witch’s cauldron.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
At the bank's annual general meeting that year, normally sedate elderly shareholders hissed and booed.
From BBC ● Jan. 10, 2026
“It’s called negotiations,” Trump hissed at a reporter who asked him about it Wednesday.
From Salon ● May 29, 2025
At the Hollywood Bowl, we hissed at the Baroness, booed at the Nazis and shot off confetti poppers when Maria got her first kiss.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 18, 2024
Every time she poked me, I hissed, and soon we were both laughing so hard we were almost crying, and I could barely get the hisses out.
From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
The group could hear the hissing of the wind and the creaking of the ropes running down from the mast.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
People often describe it as ringing, buzzing, hissing, or whooshing in one or both ears.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 10, 2026
The cistern on my toilet has been constantly refilling and making a hissing noise, so I asked a plumbing company to send someone over.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 10, 2026
They found Madagascar "hissing" cockroaches, a bulky insect named for its noisy defence mechanism, and dubia cockroaches, an invasive critter bred as a snack for pet lizards.
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
It pulled past the depot a little way and, with steam hissing and brakes squeaking, it stopped.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
