FROM THE ARCHIVESaturday, October 3, 2026
sibilant
SIB-ih-lunt/ˈsɪbɪlənt//adjective
01 / MEANING
Making or marked by a hissing or hushing sound, especially an s or sh sound.
In a sentence.
- 01
The sibilant whisper carried across the quiet room.
- 02
She softened the sibilant consonants at the end of each line.
Where it came from.
Sibilant comes from Latin sībilāns, ‘hissing,’ the participle of sībilō, ‘to hiss.’
Explore the sourceWhy it’s interesting.
It gives the hiss of speech a name that makes the very sound it describes.