Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Whispering |
WhisperingAdjective1. Making a low continuous indistinct sound; "like murmuring waves"; "susurrant voices". Noun1. The light noise like the noise of silk clothing or leaves blowing in the wind. 2. Speaking softly without vibration of the vocal cords. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "whispering" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1200. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Dream Interpretation | To dream of whispering, denotes that you will be disturbed by the evil gossiping of people near you. To hear a whisper coming to you as advice or warning, foretells that you stand in need of aid and counsel. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted .... |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Synonyms: WhisperingSynonyms: murmuring (adj), susurrant (adj), rustle (n), rustling (n), susurration (n), whisper (n). (additional references) |
Crosswords: Whispering |
| English words defined with "whispering": Insusurration ♦ susurration, Susurrus ♦ Whisperingly. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "whispering": Batman factor ♦ HARK-YE-ING. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "whispering": Whisper. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | It's using body language and laughing at the right jokes and looking into her eyes and knowing she's whispering to you even when she's not saying a word (Buffy the Vampire Slayer; writing credit: Doreen Spicer) A slave stood behind the conqueror, holding a golden crown, and whispering in his ear a warning: that all glory is fleeting (Patton; writing credit: Ladislas Farago; Omar N. Bradley) I don't know, eh voices, whispering, and a picture fell (What Lies Beneath; writing credit: Sarah Kernochan; Clark Gregg) | |
Lyrics | And she whispering them sweet nothings (Left & Right Featuring Method Man And Redman; performing artist: D'Angelo) Your stairway lies on the whispering wind (Stairway to heaven; performing artist: Led Zeppelin) Too many shadows, whispering voices (WEST END GIRLS; performing artist: Pet Shop Boys) Whispering how much you care (I Hear A Symphony; performing artist: The Supremes) | |
Clever | WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may make you think you are whispering when you are not. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Whispering Smith (1961) The Whispering Skull (1944) Whispering Footsteps (1943) The Whispering Shadow (1933) Whispering Whoopee (1930) | |
Song Titles | Whispering Bells (performing artist: The Dell-Vikings) Whispering Grass (performing artist: Windsor Davies & Don Estelle) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
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Periodicals |
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Theater & Movies | |||
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | She laid her hand on the latch, whispering "Dick!". Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Block with "V" whispering "Let Oliver do it!" to block "?" about departing man. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | The Whispering gallery. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Rêveries du soir = Twilight's whispering / peint par H. Lehmann ; lith. par A. Lemoine. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Samuel Taylor Coleridge | Alas! they had been friends in youth; but whispering tongues can poison truth. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
Communist Manifesto | 1848 | Thus the aristocracy took their revenge by singing lampoons on their new master, and whispering in his ears sinister prophecies of coming catastrophe. (reference) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | You were whispering it there between you. |
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Joyce, James | The leaves of the trees along the Mardyke were astir and whispering in the sunlight |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | For a minute Rose of Sharon sat still in the whispering barn |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Surprisingly, the spasms are usually absent while whispering, laughing, singing, speaking at a high pitch or speaking while breathing in. Stress, however, often makes the muscle spasms more severe. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Whispering" is generally used as a lexical verb (-ing form) -- approximately 84.78% of the time. "Whispering" is used about 335 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Lexical Verb (-ing form) | 84.78% | 284 | 17,292 |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 8.36% | 28 | 65,706 |
| Noun (proper) | 3.58% | 12 | 101,599 |
| Noun (singular) | 3.28% | 11 | 106,044 |
| Total | 100.00% | 335 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "whispering": whispering bells ♦ whispering campaign ♦ whispering dome ♦ whispering gallery ♦ Whispering Pines. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "whispering"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | pëshpëritje (breath, mutter, muttering, susurration, whisper). (various references) | |
Arabic | همس (breathe, buzz, hiss, murmur, speak, susurration, whisper), هامس مروج الاشاعات, وشوشة (susurrus), تهامس (exchange whispers). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | слух (audition, breeze, bruit, buzz, hearing, hearsay, noise, report, reportage, rumor, rumour, scuttlebutt, speech, story, whisper, wind), шепнещ (murmurous), подшушване. (various references) | |
Chinese | 耳语 (Whisper, Whispered). (various references) | |
Danish | viskeasfalt (whispering asphalt), forplantning via kviskegalleri (whispering-gallery propagation). (various references) | |
Dutch | propagatie door de fluistergalerij (whispering-gallery propagation), fluisterasfalt (whispering asphalt). (various references) | |
Finnish | kuiskausgalleriaeteneminen (whispering-gallery propagation). (various references) | |
French | susurrement, rumeur insidieuse, qui parle voix basse, qui chuchote, murmure (whisper), chuchotement (whisper), bruissement (whir, whirr, whiz, whizz). (various references) | |
German | flüsternd. (various references) | |
Greek | ψιθυρισμόσ (susurration). (various references) | |
Hebrew | לוחש י, לחיש" (hiss, muttering). (various references) | |
Hungarian | suttogó (whisperer). (various references) | |
Indonesian | kasak-kusuk (rumour), bisikan (murmur, whisper). (various references) | |
Italian | sussurrio. (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 耳語 , 耳"り , 私語 (secret talk), 低語 (murmuring, talking in a low voice), 内証話 (confidential talk), ほら貝 (abstractedly, baby, being stupefied, blankly, by ones and twos, clip joint, conch, crunch, dazedly, dimly, doing nothing, doll, dreamily, drip drip, dry and crumbling, faintly, flushingly, gradually, hazily, here and there, idling away time, in flames, indistinctly, it's getting late, little by little, munch, one after another, pimples, rip-off, slang for cunt, slightly, splash, spots, subdued, to be moved to tears, to be touched by, to become blurred, to become dim, to become sentimental, to complain, to grumble, to rip someone off, trumpet shell, unfair overcharging, vaguely, we must be getting off, with a splash), 忍び音 (quiet weeping), 忍び声 . (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | ないしょうばなし (confidential talk), しのび"え, しのびね (quiet weeping), し" (after death, dead language, obsolete word, poetic diction, secret talk), ぼそぼそ (dry and crumbling, subdued), じ" (after-, after that, ex-, Go game resulting in tie or draw, post-, thereafter), みみ"すり, てい" (murmuring, noon, talking in a low voice). (various references) | |
Korean | 속삭임 (Whisper). (various references) | |
Manx | sonsheraght (speak under breath, susurrate, whisper), sonsheragh (whisperer), sansheraght (annunciate, speak under breath, whisper), sansheragh (allusive, prompter), pisheraght, pisheragh. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | isperingwhay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | voz segredada, sussurro (buzz, croon, embroidery, hum, murmur, purl, ripple, rustle, sough, susurration, swish, whirr, whisper), segredo (arcanum, concealment, confidence, mystery, privacy, secrecy, secret), rumor (bruit, buzz, dog-bee, drone, embroidery, hearsay, report, rumble, rumor, rumour, sound, susurration, umbrage), murmúrio (babblement, brawl, breath, breeze, bubble, buzz, chatter, croon, embroidery, murmur, mutter, purl, ripple, sough, susurration, whisper), insinuação (innuendo, insinuation, instillation, instilment, overture, suggestion, whisper), cochicho (whisper), boato (breeze, bruit, dud, fake, hearsay, rumor, rumour). (various references) | |
Romanian | şuşotealã, şoptitor, şoptit (low, whisper, whispered). (various references) | |
Russian | сплетня (gossip, gup, scuttlebutt, tale, tattle), шепчущий, шептать шепчущий, шепот (susurration, whisper). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | koji šapuće, žamorenje (babblement, sough), šaputav, šaputanje. (various references) | |
Spanish | susurro (murmur, ripple, rustle, rustling, sigh, sough, susurration, whisper), rumores (hearsay), de rumores, de difamación (libel), cuchicheo (buzz, whisper), con eco, chismografía, chismes (bit and pieces, gossip, odds and ends, scandal, talk, tattle). (various references) | |
Swedish | viskande. (various references) | |
Turkish | fısıltılı (susurrant), fısıltı (breath, mutter, susurration, undertone, whisper), fısıldayan, fısıldama (muttering), akustik (acoustic, acoustics, audible). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | шушукання, шепіт (breath, lisp, susurration, whisper), лихослів'я (balderdash, detraction, evil-speaking, filth, obloquy, ribaldry, slander). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | tiếng xì x o (murmur), tiếng x o xạc tiếng đ"n bậy, tiếng thì thầm, tiếng nói thầm (whisper), lời xì x o bậy bạ. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | susurrationes, susurri, susurro. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "whispering": whisperingly, whisperings. (additional references) | |
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"Whispering" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: whittering. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "whispering" (pronounced wi"spering or hwi"spering) |
| 5 | -s p er i ng | prospering. |
| 4 | -p er i ng | diapering, hampering, pampering, papering, peppering, scampering, tampering, tapering, tempering, wallpapering, whimpering, zippering. |
| 3 | -er i ng | answering, administering, altering, anchoring, angering, auguring, backfiring, badgering, bantering, bartering, battering, belaboring, beleaguering, bettering, bewildering, bickering, blistering, blundering, blustering, bolstering, bordering, bothering, brokering, butchering, capturing, catering, censoring, centering, chartering, chattering, clamoring, clobbering, clustering, cluttering, coloring, configuring, conjuring, conquering, considering, cornering, countering, covering, cowering, culturing, deciphering, delivering, desiring, devouring, dickering, differing, discovering, disfavoring, disfiguring, dismembering, dithering, doctoring, doddering, embroidering, empowering, encountering, endangering, endeavoring, entering, factoring, faltering, fathering, favoring, feathering, featuring, festering, figuring, filibustering, filtering, fingering, flattering, flavoring, flickering, floundering, flowering, fluttering, fostering, foundering, fracturing, frittering, furthering, garnering, gathering, gerrymandering, gesturing, glimmering, glittering, glowering, grandfathering, guttering, hammering, hankering, harboring, hectoring, hindering, hollering, honoring, hovering, hungering, hunkering, injuring, inquiring, laboring, laundering, lawyering, layering, lecturing, lettering, levering, lingering, littering, loitering, lowering, lumbering, majoring, maneuvering, manufacturing, massacring, mastering, maundering, meandering, measuring, mentoring, metering, minoring, mirroring, mitering, mongering, monitoring, mothering, motoring, murdering, murmuring, mustering, muttering, nattering, neighboring, neutering, nonmanufacturing, numbering, nurturing, offering, ordering, outnumbering, pandering, partnering, perjuring, pestering, petering, philandering, picturing, pilfering, plastering, plundering, pondering, posturing, powdering, powering, pressuring, proffering, puncturing, puttering, quivering, recapturing, reconsidering, recovering, rediscovering, reentering, registering, rejiggering, remembering, rendering, reoffering, reordering, requiring, restructuring, rewiring, rupturing, savoring, scattering, scouring, sculpturing, sequestering, severing, shattering, sheltering, shimmering, shivering, shouldering, showering, shuddering, shuttering, simmering, slaughtering, slithering, slobbering, slumbering, smattering, smoldering, smothering, snickering, sobering, soldering, soldiering, souring, spattering, spiering, splintering, sponsoring, sputtering, squandering, staggering, structuring, stuttering, suffering, surrendering, swaggering, sweltering, tailoring, teetering, tendering, thundering, tinkering, torturing, tottering, towering, transpiring, triggering, tutoring, uncovering, unflattering, unwavering, ushering, uttering, venturing, wagering, wandering, warmongering, watering, wavering, weathering, withering, wondering, Wuthering. |
| 5 | -s p er i ng | prospering. |
| 4 | -p er i ng | diapering, hampering, pampering, papering, peppering, scampering, tampering, tapering, tempering, wallpapering, whimpering, zippering. |
| 3 | -er i ng | answering, administering, altering, anchoring, angering, auguring, backfiring, badgering, bantering, bartering, battering, belaboring, beleaguering, bettering, bewildering, bickering, blistering, blundering, blustering, bolstering, bordering, bothering, brokering, butchering, capturing, catering, censoring, centering, chartering, chattering, clamoring, clobbering, clustering, cluttering, coloring, configuring, conjuring, conquering, considering, cornering, countering, covering, cowering, culturing, deciphering, delivering, desiring, devouring, dickering, differing, discovering, disfavoring, disfiguring, dismembering, dithering, doctoring, doddering, embroidering, empowering, encountering, endangering, endeavoring, entering, factoring, faltering, fathering, favoring, feathering, featuring, festering, figuring, filibustering, filtering, fingering, flattering, flavoring, flickering, floundering, flowering, fluttering, fostering, foundering, fracturing, frittering, furthering, garnering, gathering, gerrymandering, gesturing, glimmering, glittering, glowering, grandfathering, guttering, hammering, hankering, harboring, hectoring, hindering, hollering, honoring, hovering, hungering, hunkering, injuring, inquiring, laboring, laundering, lawyering, layering, lecturing, lettering, levering, lingering, littering, loitering, lowering, lumbering, majoring, maneuvering, manufacturing, massacring, mastering, maundering, meandering, measuring, mentoring, metering, minoring, mirroring, mitering, mongering, monitoring, mothering, motoring, murdering, murmuring, mustering, muttering, nattering, neighboring, neutering, nonmanufacturing, numbering, nurturing, offering, ordering, outnumbering, pandering, partnering, perjuring, pestering, petering, philandering, picturing, pilfering, plastering, plundering, pondering, posturing, powdering, powering, pressuring, proffering, puncturing, puttering, quivering, recapturing, reconsidering, recovering, rediscovering, reentering, registering, rejiggering, remembering, rendering, reoffering, reordering, requiring, restructuring, rewiring, rupturing, savoring, scattering, scouring, sculpturing, sequestering, severing, shattering, sheltering, shimmering, shivering, shouldering, showering, shuddering, shuttering, simmering, slaughtering, slithering, slobbering, slumbering, smattering, smoldering, smothering, snickering, sobering, soldering, soldiering, souring, spattering, spiering, splintering, sponsoring, sputtering, squandering, staggering, structuring, stuttering, suffering, surrendering, swaggering, sweltering, tailoring, teetering, tendering, thundering, tinkering, torturing, tottering, towering, transpiring, triggering, tutoring, uncovering, unflattering, unwavering, ushering, uttering, venturing, wagering, wandering, warmongering, watering, wavering, weathering, withering, wondering, Wuthering. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-g-h-i-i-n-p-r-s-w" | |
-1 letter: perishing. | |
-2 letters: periwigs, shrewing, speiring, sphering, spiering, swingier. | |
-3 letters: heiring, hingers, inspire, peising, periwig, pingers, pishing, prising, shewing, shinier, spewing, spinier, spiring, springe, swinger, swiping, whiners, whinges, whinier, whisper, wingers, wingier, wirings, wishing, wispier, wisping. | |
-4 letters: genips, gripes, hewing, hieing, hinger, hinges, hiring, neighs, newish, nigher, perish, pieing, pinger, pinier, reigns, renigs, repins, reship. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-g-h-i-i-n-p-r-s-w" | |
+1 letter: whisperings. | |
+2 letters: shipwrecking, whisperingly. | |
+3 letters: horsewhipping. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Quotations: Familiar | 9. Quotations: Historic 10. Quotations: Fiction 11. Quotations: Non-fiction 12. Usage Frequency | 13. Expressions 14. Expressions: Internet 15. Translations: Modern 16. Translations: Ancient | 17. Derivations 18. Rhymes 19. Anagrams 20. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
