Definition
nounThe act of speaking in a quiet voice, especially without vibration of the vocal cords.
nounThe act of speaking in a quiet voice, especially without vibration of the vocal cords; the sound thus produced.
Sentence Examples
A whisper ran through the crowd.
His voice dropped to a whisper.
Don't you know it's rude to whisper?
Word Origin & History
From Middle English whisperen, from Old English hwisprian (“to mutter, murmur, whisper”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwisprōn, from Proto-Germanic *hwisprōną (“to hiss, whistle, whisper”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱweys-, *ḱwey- (“to hiss, whistle, whisper”).
Cognate with Dutch wisperen (“to whisper”), German wispern (“to mumble, whisper”). Related also to Danish hviske (“to whisper”), Icelandic hvískra (“to whisper”), Norwegian Bokmål hviske, kviskre (“to whisper”), Norwegian Nynorsk kviskre, kviskra (“to whisper”), Swedish viska (“to whisper”). More at English whistle.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
""Now, look here, Jim Hawkins," he said, in a steady whisper, that was no more than audible."
— 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:
"You know love is everything you say / A whisper, a word / Promises you give"
— 2005 December 2, “Amarantine”, in Roma Ryan (lyrics), Enya (music), Amarantine, performed by Enya:
"Time can never mend / The careless whispers of a good friend"
— 1984, George Michael, Andrew Ridgeley, “Careless Whisper”:
"The invisibility of private interactions in the form of whispers resolved an ethical concern in the research but reduced our ability to gauge the volume of interaction […]"
— 2002, Ralph Schroeder, The Social Life of Avatars, page 218:
"Anyone logged in to the chat room can click on an individual name, highlighting it, and send a message — a whisper — that will be seen only by the selected person."
— 2004, Caroline A. Haythornthwaite, Michelle M. Kazmer, Learning, Culture and Community in Online Education, page 179: