sibilant
Phonetics. characterized by a hissing sound; noting sounds like those spelled with s in this [this], /ðɪs/, rose [rohz], /roʊz/, pressure [presh-er], /ˈprɛʃ ər/, pleasure [plezh-er], /ˈplɛʒ ər/, and certain similar uses of ch, sh, z, zh, etc.
Phonetics. a sibilant consonant.
Origin of sibilant
1Other words from sibilant
- sib·i·lance [sib-uh-luhns] /ˈsɪb ə ləns/ sib·i·lan·cy [sib-uh-luhn-see] /ˈsɪb ə lən si/ noun
- sib·i·lant·ly, adverb
- non·sib·i·lant, adjective, noun
- non·sib·i·lant·ly, adverb
- sub·sib·i·lant, adjective, noun
- sub·sib·i·lant·ly, adverb
- un·sib·i·lant, adjective
Words Nearby sibilant
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use sibilant in a sentence
But she only lifted a warning finger and made a sibilant sound with her lips, adjuring silence.
The Tigress | Anne WarnerExemplify the sibilant impurity with such syllables as pish, false, traitress, miscreant.
The Ontario Readers: The High School Reader, 1886 | Ministry of EducationBut out of the muck-heap I picked five pearls—four sibilant nouns and a name that I knew before.
The Riddle of the Sands | Erskine ChildersGrace whispered, but the sibilant swish of sounds seemed more resonant than an outspoken address might have.
The Girl Scouts at Camp Comalong | Lillian GarisThe tones were first high, then low, never guttural, and possessed a certain sibilant quality.
Ruth Fielding on the St. Lawrence | Alice B. Emerson
British Dictionary definitions for sibilant
/ (ˈsɪbɪlənt) /
phonetics relating to or denoting the consonants (s, z, / ʃ /, / ʒ /), all pronounced with a characteristic hissing sound
having a hissing sound: the sibilant sound of wind among the leaves
a sibilant consonant
Origin of sibilant
1Derived forms of sibilant
- sibilance or sibilancy, noun
- sibilantly, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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