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:
Not a call of the wild, a roar or a hiss.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Play Under The Rain or Breathe Again and you'll hear a telltale hiss running throughout the tracks.
From BBC ● Jan. 16, 2026
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
“Not My World” is one of the better tracks on the record because it leans minimal, letting the hiss and click of the rhythm bump against a buzzing synth that almost risks irritation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2025
He turns his face from me, then whips it back, mouth open, tiny teeth shining in the moonlight, and breathes out, making this little hiss sound.
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
Years after a traumatic shooting and relentless attacks from people in the hip-hop industry — Megan Thee Stallion bit back and hard in the diss track "Hiss."
From Salon ● Dec. 28, 2024
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
He claimed that Hiss had passed these to him several years earlier, as part of their conspiracy to provide information to the Soviet Union.
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
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
In North Africa and the Levant, it’s shakshuka: eggs poached in a rich, spiced tomato sauce that hisses when it hits the pan and settles into something molten and slow.
From Salon ● Jun. 16, 2025
Bob Clendenin is funny as a needy, talkative pilot, and Gonzalo Menendez earns his hisses as a crooked cop.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 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
Burns, a retired police officer, looked up from his microphone and hissed back: “Tee-hee-hee, by a bunch of idiots!”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
When she poked her head outside to see what was going on, someone hissed at her to “get out of town.”
From Slate ● Apr. 19, 2026
At the bank's annual general meeting that year, normally sedate elderly shareholders hissed and booed.
From BBC ● Jan. 10, 2026
The fat hissed in greeting, and within seconds the kitchen was filled with oregano’s scent.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2025
Suddenly the music stopped and Peter from his perch on the piano bench hissed across the room, “Opa! Here’s the competition!”
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
I caught the film at a recent matinee in New Orleans, and children and adults alike gasped at Harryhausen’s movie monsters – from the looming metal colossus of Telos to the hissing and slithering Hydra.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026
“The cistern on my toilet has been constantly refilling and making a hissing noise.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 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
I could hear Eddie hissing at me to slow down and wait for him, feel my ribs splitting with laughter as I ran.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
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.
