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• 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

whistlers plural

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.

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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.

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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

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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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Whistlerian
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• whistlers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of whistler

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

whistler Whistler whistlers

Those are the occupational hazards of a professional whistler.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 3, 2026

These days, Sundays look a bit different for the singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and whistler, but they’re still a time for decompressing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2024

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

From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2023

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

I mean you don't just go up to somebody and say, "You're a terrific whistler."

From "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger

We have six homes: In California, we own two contemporary houses in Malibu, one house in Beverly Hills and two in Hollywood; and there’s one in Whistler, B.C.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026

That show also explored the art of Van Gogh, Monet and Whistler, Impressionist artists deeply influenced by Japanese prints, as expressed by the French term Japonisme.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2026

After three years, John went to Paris to study under the American painter James McNeill Whistler for six months before moving back to England.

From BBC ● Feb. 7, 2026

As diners quaffed fine wine and ate expensive dishes, they could glance at the painting by Rex Whistler depicting a hunting party riding through a fantastical landscape.

From New York Times ● Mar. 12, 2024

On the other side of the lantern you may have Watts, and the painted canvases of a Whistler.

From Women Painters of the World From the Time of Caterina Vigri, 1413-1463, to Rosa Bonheur and the Present Day by Sparrow, Walter Shaw

Surfing YouTube for throat whistlers, Saxon came across a former circus performer named Paul “The Birdman” Manalatos who had developed a signature coo.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 2025

Intriguingly, the scientists report that the whistlers usually exchanged whistles with second-order allies with whom they were weakly bonded, rather than calling to a best buddy.

From Science Magazine ● Mar. 24, 2022

She added, “We’re a whooping and hollering crowd in Philadelphia now,” and described baseball whistlers and shouts from the audience.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 2, 2015

They take turns reading the text and whistling until all the whistlers have taken a solo.

From New York Times ● Jun. 20, 2013

They don't hurt anybody, most of them, and maybe they're secretly all terrific whistlers or something.

From "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger