whispering

1 of 2

noun

whis·​per·​ing ˈ(h)wi-sp(ə-)riŋ 

1

a

: whispered speech

b

: gossip, rumor

2

: a sibilant sound : whisper

whispering

2 of 2

adjective

1

: making a sibilant sound

2

: spreading confidential and especially derogatory reports

… whispering tongues can poison truth …

—Samuel Taylor Coleridge

whisperingly

ˈ(h)wi-sp(ə-)riŋ-lē 

adverb

Examples of whispering in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Meanwhile the grasses keep whispering, whispering about some mortal danger, the crickets shriek, and the heat renders your body all too present to itself. —Literary Hub, 23 Jan. 2026

The moment is an homage to the stage musical’s famous poster, a drawing of a woman in white whispering to a smiling green-skinned witch. —Jack Smart, PEOPLE, 21 Nov. 2025

Adjective

Budj Bim assigned the weeping she-oak (Casuarina) trees, whose whispering voices can be heard in the wind, to be the guardian spirits of the landscape. —Literary Hub, 22 Oct. 2025

Pluto’s been whispering to you about long-term transformation; now that whisper may become a roar. —Dossé-Via Trenou, Refinery29, 30 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adjective

1547, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing whispering

• whispering campaign
• whispering sweet nothings