Jump To:

• whistler
  whistler

  noun

  a person or thing that whistles.
• Whistler
  Whistler

  noun

  James (Abbott) McNeill 1834–1903, U.S. painter and etcher, in France and England after 1855.

whistler

¹ American  

[hwis-ler, wis-] / ˈʰwɪs lər, ˈwɪs- /

noun

1. a person or thing that whistles.

2. something that makes a sound like a whistle.

   The windstorm was a 60-mile-an-hour whistler.

3. any of various birds whose wings whistle in flight, especially the goldeneye.

4. thickhead.

5. a large marmot, Marmota caligata, of mountainous northwestern North America, closely related to the woodchuck.

6. a horse afflicted with whistling.

7. Radio. a whistling sound heard on a radio, a type of interference caused by distant lightning.

---

Whistler ² American  

[wis-ler, hwis-] / ˈwɪs lər, ˈʰwɪs- /

noun

1. James (Abbott) McNeill 1834–1903, U.S. painter and etcher, in France and England after 1855.

---

whistler ¹ British  

/ ˈwɪslə /

noun

1. a person or thing that whistles

2. radio an atmospheric disturbance picked up by radio receivers, characterized by a whistling sound of decreasing pitch. It is caused by the electromagnetic radiation produced by lightning

3. any of various birds having a whistling call, such as certain Australian flycatchers and the goldeneye See also thickhead

4. any of various North American marmots of the genus Marmota, esp M. caligata ( hoary marmot )

5. vet science a horse affected with an abnormal respiratory noise, resembling whistling

6. informal a referee

---

Whistler ² British  

/ ˈwɪslə /

noun

1. James Abbott McNeill. 1834–1903, US painter and etcher, living in Europe. He is best known for his sequence of nocturnes and his portraits

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Whistlerian
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of whistler

before 1000; Middle English; Old English hwistlere. See whistle, -er ¹

Example Sentences

Those are the occupational hazards of a professional whistler.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 3, 2026

I heard that you're a good whistler, but that you also had to be dubbed.

From Salon • Apr. 19, 2023

Last summer, while recording with Molly Lewis, the popular whistler, at the Sound Factory in Hollywood, Rogê met Brenneck, one of the studio’s resident producers.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 18, 2022

With five of Scotland's starting line-up one booking away from a suspension for the play-off semi-final, the home team needed a card-happy whistler like it need a firm kick in the unmentionables.

From BBC • Nov. 16, 2021

The doorman was a good whistler, thanks to his chipped front tooth.

From "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin