sibilant

Advancedzipf 2.02

Pronunciation

/ˈsɪbɪlənt/(SIB-ih-lunt)

Part of speech

adjective/nounformal

Chinese

嘶嘶作响的；齿擦音的

Definition

Making or characterized by a hissing sound; in phonetics, a consonant produced with a hissing effect (s, z, sh, zh).

Word family

  • sibilance/ˈsɪbɪləns/(n)嘶嘶声
  • sibilantly/ˈsɪbɪləntli/(adv)嘶嘶地

Collocations

  • sibilant whisper
  • sibilant sound
  • sibilant consonant
  • sibilant hiss

Examples

  1. 1.The sibilant whisper of wind through dry grass was the only sound on the prairie. (hissing sound)
  2. 2.Excessive sibilance in a recording makes the singer's "s" sounds painfully sharp. (hissing quality in audio)

Synonyms

  • hissing/ˈhɪsɪŋ/— making an "s" sound
  • whispering/ˈwɪspərɪŋ/— soft, breathy

Etymology

from Latin "sibilare" (to hiss, to whistle) — the sound a snake makes