whiz
1 Americanverb (used without object)
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whizzes,
present (3rd person singular)
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whizzed,
past participle, past
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whizzing
present participle
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to make a humming, buzzing, or hissing sound, as an object passing swiftly through the air.
-
to move or rush with such a sound.
The angry hornets whizzed by in a cloud.
verb (used with object)
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whizzes,
present (3rd person singular)
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whizzed,
past participle, past
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whizzing
present participle
-
to cause to whiz.
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to treat with a whizzer.
noun
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Informal. a person who is quite good at a particular activity, in a certain field, etc..
She's a whiz at math.
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the sound of a whizzing object.
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a swift movement producing such a sound.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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whizsimple
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whizzessimple
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have whizzedperfect
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has whizzedperfect
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am whizzingprogressive
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are whizzingprogressive
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is whizzingprogressive
-
have been whizzingperfect progressive
-
has been whizzingperfect progressive
Past
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whizzedsimple
-
had whizzedperfect
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was whizzingprogressive
-
were whizzingprogressive
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had been whizzingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of whiz1
1540–50; imitative; cf. fizz
Origin of whiz2
By shortening
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:
"It's not suddenly going to whiz past and you'll miss it. It's worth waiting around just in case the clouds move on."
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
Less than four months earlier, the carpet-cleaning company run by 21-year-old whiz kid Barry Minkow had a stock-market value of roughly $300 million.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
The first-generation college student is among a cohort of AI whiz kids who are dropping out of college—and getting their investors to pay their bills.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026
As four astronauts whiz toward a flyby of the Moon, looking out for them are mission control experts using cutting-edge technology and lessons learned from the Apollo program 50 years ago.
From Barron's ● Apr. 4, 2026
Now snowmobiles whiz by frequently as people go from one village to the next to visit.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
More than 60,000 Wall Street Journal readers tested their knowledge against high-school personal-finance whizzes this week.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
Across two hours, Buckley’s Bride shoots, kicks, contorts, dances, scrapes, whizzes, licks and screams, all the while coming no closer to her true self than she was at the start of the film.
From Salon ● Mar. 8, 2026
“The History of Concrete” is about the history of concrete — he’s not kidding about that — but as ever, his expedition whizzes the audience from one unexpected pit stop to another.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 21, 2026
Throngs of people precariously stand on the medians as high-speed traffic whizzes by.
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2025
The girls are stopped at a red light as more traffic whizzes by.
From "The House That Lou Built" by Mae Respicio
Toddlers whizzed by on scooters as parents chatted about the struggles of parenting during a rare L.A. storm.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 3, 2026
Someone got a haircut as cars whizzed past.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2026
We made it to the top, whizzed down the other side, passed the test—and passed it again and again, all the way across the country, through the agonizingly steep hills of western Maine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 8, 2025
That same year, feeling restless, he whizzed off to Washington to work for Mr. Kissinger in the State Department.
From New York Times ● Jun. 17, 2024
A hail of sharp stones and pebbles whizzed upwards, rattling against the masonry as Cluny waved his tail in the meadow below.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
Finding more of them could help scientists "understand how galaxies form and how many black holes are whizzing around," Stein said.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026
A bizarre pursuit unfolded along the residential streets of Oceanside this week as a helicopter and half a dozen sheriff’s patrol cars chased a teen whizzing away from them on an electric dirt bike.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
Ms. Gionfriddo writes tartly funny dialogue that stings and surprises, with tangy quips and savage retorts whizzing through the air, giving a buoyancy even to scenes that occasionally stretch past their necessary length.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 7, 2026
But there is a long way to go before flying cars are whizzing through the air every day.
From Barron's ● Nov. 30, 2025
It took me a moment to realize it was whizzing awfully close to my head.
From "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High" by Melba Pattillo Beals
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.
