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Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of whispering
before 1000; Middle English (noun), Old English hwisprunge. See whisper, -ing 2, -ing 1
Explanation
Whispering is what you do when you speak so softly that you can barely be heard. Most teachers have a rule that there's no whispering allowed while the class is taking a test. Whispering involves using your breath, rather than your vocal cords, to speak very quietly. You might hear whispering in the quiet section of the library or during a play or movie — it's used for communicating secrets or simply to avoid bothering other people. The word can also be used as an adjective for sounds that resemble a whisper, like the whispering wind through the trees on a breezy day.
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:
“He’s whispering to me, ‘Mom, this is your path.’
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
When you watch footage of the Army-McCarthy hearings, he’s sitting there right by McCarthy’s side, whispering in his ear.
From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026
After the podcast, Swift had "a lot of people whispering in my ear", encouraging her to hook up with Travis.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
The two were often seen whispering and trading jokes during arguments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026
She walked with light steps, whispering the names of every tree and flower, careful not to trample any saplings or mushrooms as she stepped.
From "I Survived the Eruption of Mount St. Helens, 1980" by Lauren Tarshis
However, there was broad and vociferous support for Baroness Kidron, a film director and digital rights campaigner, who accused ministers of being swayed by the "whisperings of Silicon Valley" asking them to "redefine theft".
From BBC ● May 19, 2025
That’s no different from the way the first season tricked us into obsessing over those mud and hair totems and whisperings about the Yellow King for nothing.
From Salon ● Jan. 14, 2024
Your colleagues are covering up whisperings about room décor, I said.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 8, 2023
The city is quiet apart from the whisperings of all-night radio phone-ins, forging the insomniacs, the lovelorn and the lost into a fleeting community.
From Reuters ● Feb. 13, 2022
Not that everything was silent—the wind carried whisperings with it, a current of noise just underneath the airy quiet.
From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu
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.
