1
: a half-suppressed or muttered complaint : grumbling
murmurs of disapproval
2
a
: a low indistinct but often continuous sound
a murmur of voices
the murmur of the waves along the shore
b
: a soft or gentle utterance
the murmur of nannies cooing into baby carriages—
Nancy Gibbs
Nancy Gibbs3
: an atypical sound of the heart typically indicating a functional or structural abnormality
The physician detected a heart murmur in his patient.
murmured; murmuring; murmurs
: to say in a murmur
murmurer
noun
Synonyms
Examples of murmur in a Sentence
Noun
the murmur of the crowd
The suggestion brought murmurs of disapproval.
He spoke in a murmur.
They spoke to each other in murmurs.
the murmur of the waves along the shore
Verb
He murmured something about having to get home.
“Thank you,” she murmured as she left the room.
The breeze murmured in the pines.
Recent Examples on the WebHoward Walker, Robb Report, 18 Jan. 2024
The attacks on minorities, the suppression of the press, and the arrest of civil rights activists have attracted scarcely a murmur of disapproval from the State Department or the White House.
—Ramachandra Guha, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024
EVs generally lack sound, beyond the low murmur most emit at low speeds for regulatory reasons.
—Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN, 5 Mar. 2024
Conversations bounce around the room in a variety of languages and accents, accompanied by the rattle of dishes and murmurs of delight.
—Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 18 Feb. 2024
The Chiefs have now scored on their opening possession in eight straight playoff games.
25d ago / 12:20 PM PST
Jason Abbruzzese
There’s been some murmurs of Kelce slowing down this season.
—NBC News, 29 Jan. 2024
As Desmond Bane and Marcus Smart swished home dagger three-pointers, boos and murmurs replaced the early energy the Lakers helped ignite.
—Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times, 6 Jan. 2024
And through that test, Reynolds learned the little girl was severely anemic – to the point of having a heart murmur.
—The Enquirer, 30 Jan. 2024
With tragedy still omnipresent, the Warriors’ rumor mill have been silent on the trade deadline front despite a few murmurs that most every player is on the table except Curry.
—Shayna Rubin, The Mercury News, 27 Jan. 2024
Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 24 Mar. 2024
Talk of rebooting The Office in some capacity has been murmured about and workshopped for years, with a fresh series focusing on a new cast so far never making it out of development.
—Kevin Dolak, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Feb. 2024
At the studio, many musicians were murmuring about why Prince wasn't there.
—Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY, 20 Jan. 2024
In the final, the dominant ALW/Parenteau team, who have yet to lose playing together, crushed Dizon & Wright 11-3 in game one and had the crowd murmuring about a fast final.
—Todd Boss, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2024
Looking at Hancock’s body, Moss surprised himself by murmuring a spontaneous prayer, which came out involuntarily, like a sneeze.
—Emma Goldberg Desiree Rios, New York Times, 21 Jan. 2024
But the feeling was mutual, as Jelly Roll later murmured, if only to himself, about the surrealness of the moment.
—Nekesa Mumbi Moody, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Feb. 2024
As people began to murmur that ChatGPT could replace web searches, Google jumped into action in January 2023, hoping to counter this apparent threat to its search dominance.
—Benj Edwards, Ars Technica, 18 Dec. 2023
The painful memories of the pandemic are of lives lost, loneliness and uncertainty, school closures, and murmuring conspiracy theories, not of widespread financial ruin.
—Matthew Desmond, The New York Review of Books, 28 Dec. 2023
Noun
With the throttle down, the Tiara eases onto plane in around seven seconds, with hardly a murmur from the outboards behind.
—Howard Walker, Robb Report, 18 Jan. 2024
The attacks on minorities, the suppression of the press, and the arrest of civil rights activists have attracted scarcely a murmur of disapproval from the State Department or the White House.
—Ramachandra Guha, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024
EVs generally lack sound, beyond the low murmur most emit at low speeds for regulatory reasons.
—Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN, 5 Mar. 2024
Conversations bounce around the room in a variety of languages and accents, accompanied by the rattle of dishes and murmurs of delight.
—Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 18 Feb. 2024
The Chiefs have now scored on their opening possession in eight straight playoff games.
25d ago / 12:20 PM PST
Jason Abbruzzese
There’s been some murmurs of Kelce slowing down this season.
—NBC News, 29 Jan. 2024
As Desmond Bane and Marcus Smart swished home dagger three-pointers, boos and murmurs replaced the early energy the Lakers helped ignite.
—Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times, 6 Jan. 2024
And through that test, Reynolds learned the little girl was severely anemic – to the point of having a heart murmur.
—The Enquirer, 30 Jan. 2024
With tragedy still omnipresent, the Warriors’ rumor mill have been silent on the trade deadline front despite a few murmurs that most every player is on the table except Curry.
—Shayna Rubin, The Mercury News, 27 Jan. 2024
Verb
The sellout crowd at Spectrum Center was murmuring and nervous.
—Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 24 Mar. 2024
Talk of rebooting The Office in some capacity has been murmured about and workshopped for years, with a fresh series focusing on a new cast so far never making it out of development.
—Kevin Dolak, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Feb. 2024
At the studio, many musicians were murmuring about why Prince wasn't there.
—Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY, 20 Jan. 2024
In the final, the dominant ALW/Parenteau team, who have yet to lose playing together, crushed Dizon & Wright 11-3 in game one and had the crowd murmuring about a fast final.
—Todd Boss, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2024
Looking at Hancock’s body, Moss surprised himself by murmuring a spontaneous prayer, which came out involuntarily, like a sneeze.
—Emma Goldberg Desiree Rios, New York Times, 21 Jan. 2024
But the feeling was mutual, as Jelly Roll later murmured, if only to himself, about the surrealness of the moment.
—Nekesa Mumbi Moody, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Feb. 2024
As people began to murmur that ChatGPT could replace web searches, Google jumped into action in January 2023, hoping to counter this apparent threat to its search dominance.
—Benj Edwards, Ars Technica, 18 Dec. 2023
The painful memories of the pandemic are of lives lost, loneliness and uncertainty, school closures, and murmuring conspiracy theories, not of widespread financial ruin.
—Matthew Desmond, The New York Review of Books, 28 Dec. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'murmur.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Noun and Verb
Middle English murmure, from Anglo-French disturbance, from Latin murmur murmur, roar, of imitative origin
First Known Use
Noun
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Verb
14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of murmur was
in the 14th century
Phrases Containing murmur
Dictionary Entries Near murmur
Cite this Entry
“Murmur.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/murmur. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
murmur
2 of 2 verb1
: to make a murmur
the breeze murmured in the pines
2
: to say in a voice too low to be heard clearly
murmurer
noun
Medical Definition
murmur
noun
mur·mur
ˈmər-mər 
: an atypical sound of the heart typically indicating a functional or structural abnormality
called also heart murmur
More from Merriam-Webster on murmur
Nglish: Translation of murmur for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of murmur for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about murmur
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