sibilant means characterized by a hissing or hushing sound such as the s or sh in sack or shack. It carries an Arena rating of 1496, earned across 4 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, sibilant ranks #346 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #1,589 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #2,302 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #2,500 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words.
sibilant is pronounced /ˈsɪb.ɪ.lənt/.
Why “sibilant” is a great word
Characterized by a hissing or hushing sound, such as that of the consonants s or sh. From Latin sībilāns, present participle of sībilāre ("to hiss, whistle"), of imitative origin. Unlike strident, which denotes a harsh, grating shrillness, or the broader class of fricative, which includes the soft turbulence of f or th, sibilant is the specific, sleek sound of escaping air shaped to a keen edge. It is the intimate warning of a serpent in dry grass, the conspiratorial leak of a secret passed in a library, or the steady, sighing exhalation of a tire going flat—the audible signature of pressure finding its way out, a whisper shaped not by force but by the smallest adjustment of tongue to tooth.
Etymology
From Latin sībilāns, present active participle of sībilō (“to hiss”).
adj
- Characterized by a hissing or hushing sound such as the s or sh in sack or shack.
noun
- A consonant having a hissing or hushing sound such as the s or sh in sack or shack.e.g.“Groove fricatives all have more or less of an [s]-like quality, and are for this reason sometimes called sibilants.” — 1955, H. A. Gleason, An Introduction to Descriptive Linguistics, page 194, section 14.7:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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