noun
- a hissing sound, especially one made by the letters s, sh, z, or zh
Usage: linguistics; phonetics
Examples
- The sibilance of the snake’s warning filled the air.
- The poet used sibilance to create a whispering effect in the verse.
- The speech therapist worked on reducing the child’s excessive sibilance.
- The sibilance in ‘she sells seashells’ makes it a challenging tongue twister.
- The recording engineer adjusted the microphone to minimize sibilance.
- The actor’s sibilance added a sinister quality to the villain’s dialogue.