sibilate

[sib-uh-leyt]

verb (used without object)

sibilated, sibilating 

1. to hiss.

verb (used with object)

sibilated, sibilating 

1. to utter or pronounce with a hissing sound.

sibilate

/ ˈsɪbɪˌleɪt /

verb

1. to pronounce or utter (words or speech) with a hissing sound

Other Word Forms

• sibilation noun
• sibilator noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of sibilate¹

First recorded in 1650–60; from Latin sībilātus (past participle of sībilāre “to hiss”); sibilant, -ate ¹

Example Sentences

So how is it that some psychopaths sibilate their way through life as liver-chomping, chianti-swilling monsters, while others are high achievers?

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And when I walk amid the foliage of these autumn days, it begins to quarrel with an excitable sibilating duck: “It’s rabbit season!”

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No papers were asked for either at the Customs' station, some hundred yards farther on; but the Carabineros looked upon me as a lunatic, and significantly sibilated.

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And there he sits, meditating over Carlyle’s crepitating fire and Rousseau’s writhing, sibilating flame.

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"Answer me!" sibilated the stranger, his brows darkening beneath the wide brim of the hat, and a gleam of fire showing in his eyes.

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