(click/touch triangles for details)
Definition
characterized by a hissing sound — as made when pronouncing the letter "s"More rarely, sibilant can reference the hissing sound; or a consonant (such as "s") that has a hissing sound.
- the sibilant whisper of a summer's breezeEric Van Lustbader -- Beneath an Opal Moon
- a sibilant seductive whisper
- she uttered a shshshsh so sibilant and ominous, that it frightened the poor old lady in her bedWilliam Makepeace Thackeray -- Vanity Fair
- the slithery, sibilant language of snakesA. O. Scott -- The New York Times, 2/15/02 (film review of: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)
- She had a curious habit of prefacing everything she said with a soft sibilant sound.Harper Lee -- To Kill a Mockingbird
- She on his tide, let her body be summoned by every sibilant hiss of his pain.Ray Bradbury -- Something Wicked This Way Comes
- Sibilants echo wetly off Grade's teeth.Don DeLillo -- Underworld
- Sometimes this gurgle became sibilant, almost a whistle.Jack London -- White Fang
- She made a sibilant sound, almost inaudible, and right there on Constitution Avenue, moved toward me in a rush and pressed herself into my arms.William Styron -- Sophie's Choice
- A sound—the sibilance of dragging feet on stone.Arthur Miller -- The Crucible
- I heard the breathing of fifty men like muted sibilance of surf, broken only by necessary orders in the fewest possible words.Robert A. Heinlein -- Starship Troopers
- It had a slight sibilant sound.Zane Grey -- The Light of Western Stars
- She hadn't been able to understand Artkin's words, but the sibilant whispers left no doubt in her mind about what Artkin was saying.Robert Cormier -- After the First Death
- He tapped his scepter on his knee, his voice soft and sibilant.Henry H. Neff -- The Second Siege
- The last part of his speech was lost in a faint sibilant buzz that went through the gathering, an angry beelike buzz.Margaret Mitchell -- Gone with the Wind
- As he stooped to snatch it up he uttered a sibilant hiss.Zane Grey -- The Man of the Forest
- "Renault .... zero," Brother Leon said, his voice a sibilant whisper.Robert Cormier -- The Chocolate War
- Rendezvous, it says, terraces; the sibilants run up my spine, a shiver as if in fever.Margaret Atwood -- The Handmaid's Tale
- In the silence Harry imagined he could hear the snake hissing slightly as it coiled and uncoiled-or was it Voldemort's sibilant sigh lingering on the air?J.K. Rowling -- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- In the hush, a sibilant sound attended the finish photo as it slid down to the stewards.Laura Hillenbrand -- Seabiscuit
sibilant = hissing
sibilant = characterized by a hissing sound
Search for other examples by interest
Interest — Source
General — Google News®General — Time® Magazine
General — Wikipedia®
Architecture — Google® books - Architecture
Business — Bloomberg®
Business — The Economist®
Classic Literature — Google® books - Classical Literature
Engineering — Google® books - Engineering
Engineering — Popular Mechanics®
Engineering — Discover Magazine®
Fine Arts & Music — Google® books - Art
History — Google® books - History
Human Behavior — Google® books - Psychology
Human Behavior — Psychology Today®
Law — FindLaw®
Law — Google® books - Law
Logic & Reasoning — Google® books - Reasoning
Medicine — Web MD®
Medicine — Google® books - Medicine
Nature & Ecology — National Geographic®
Nature & Ecology — Google® books - Nature
Personal Finance — Kiplinger® (Personal Finance)
Philosophy — Google® books - Philosophy
Public Policy & Politics — Newsweek®
Public Policy & Politics — Real Clear Politics®
Public Policy & Politics — Google® books - Politics
Religion & Spirtuality — Google® books - Religion
Religion - Christianity — Bible Gateway®
Religion - Christianity — Google® books - Christianity
Science — Popular Science®
Science — Scientific American®
Science — Google® books - Science
Sports — Sports Illustrated®