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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

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

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

Whistler quickly absorbed the newest currents in French painting.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026

The show traces his career from when Whistler was an ambitious teen in St. Petersburg to his years as a global creative force.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 17, 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

UK captains Stephen "Hoops" Hooper, Neil Thomas and Gemma Barnes received the official flag to signify the exchange from Whistler and Vancouver to Birmingham.

From BBC ● Feb. 17, 2025

His apprentice days were spent in Dusseldorf and Paris, where his professional debut in 1889 gained for him the coveted Grand Prix—Sargent and Whistler being the only other American painters similarly honored.

From Historic Fredericksburg The Story of an Old Town by John T. Goolrick

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

And what could be less risky than a familiar name — especially if you’re now able to layer on all bells and whistlers the effects era?

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2016

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