SIBILANT

fricative, continuant, sibilant, spirant, strident

(adjective) of speech sounds produced by forcing air through a constricted passage (as ‘f’, ‘s’, ‘z’, or ‘th’ in both ‘thin’ and ‘then’)

sibilant, sibilant consonant

(noun) a consonant characterized by a hissing sound (like s or sh)

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Adjective

sibilant (comparative more sibilant, superlative most sibilant)

Characterized by a hissing sound such as the "s" or "sh" in sash or surge.

Noun

sibilant (plural sibilants)

(phonetics) A consonant having a hissing sound such as the 's' or 'sh' in 'sash' or 'surge'.

Synonym: groove fricative

Hypernym: fricative

Anagrams

• astilbin

Source: Wiktionary

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Sib"i*lant, a. Etym: [L. sibilans, -antis, p. pr. of sibilare to hiss: cf. F. sibilant.]

Definition: Making a hissing sound; uttered with a hissing sound; hissing; as, s, z, sh, and zh, are sibilant elementary sounds.

– n.

Definition: A sibiliant letter.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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