sibilance.

A hissing quality produced by repeated or sustained s-like sounds.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• whispered sibilance

On the page

Sibilance threaded the whispered warning.

The recording exaggerated the voice’s sibilance.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary. Forms: Usually uncountable. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.