sibilant

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sibilance, the marked recurrence of the ‘hissing’ sounds known as sibilants (usually spelt s, sh, zh, c). The effect, also known as sigmatism after the Greek letter sigma, is often exploited in poetry, as in Long‐fellow's lines

Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing;
Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness

See also alliteration.

IN BRIEF: Characterized by a hissing sound, in which the letter s is continuous.

The actor's sibilant speech was distracting.

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Shrill, whistling or hissing.

(sib′ilənt)
adj

Accompanied by a hissing sound; especially a type of fricative speech sound. The phonemes /s/ and /z/ are sibilants.

For a list of words related to sibilant, see:

• Phonetics - sibilant: speech sound characterized by “s” or hissing sound

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See words rhyming with "sibilance."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Sibilant.

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - hvislende
n. - hvislelyd

Nederlands (Dutch)
sisklank, sissend

Français (French)
adj. - (Ling) sifflant, (fig) sifflant
n. - (Ling) sifflante

Deutsch (German)
n. - Zischlaut
adj. - zischend

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - συριστικό σύμφωνο
adj. - συριστικός

Italiano (Italian)
sibilante

Português (Portuguese)
n. - consoante (f) sibilante
adj. - sibilante

Русский (Russian)
свистящий или шипящий звук, свистящий или шипящий

Español (Spanish)
adj. - sibilante
n. - letra o sonido sibilante

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - väsljud
adj. - väsande, väs-

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
嘶嘶作声的, 齿擦音

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 嘶嘶作聲的
n. - 齒擦音

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 쉬쉬 소리를 내는, 마찰음의
n. - 마찰음

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 歯擦音, 歯擦音文字
adj. - シューシューいう, 歯擦音の

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) حرف صفير (صفه) صفيري, صافر‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮שורק (עיצור)‬
n. - ‮עיצור שורק‬

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