hissing 1 of 2

hissing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of hiss
as in bubbling
to make a sound like that of stretching out the speech sound \s\ the frightened kitten hissed at us when we tried to pick it up

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for hissing
Verb
  • One perk is that the bubbling stream provides the ideal ecosystem where hemlock and rhododendron thrive along the banks.
    Jennifer Prince, Southern Living, 29 Dec. 2024
  • There was understandable tension in the quarter-final against Bayern Munich, but something was bubbling from minute one against Porto.
    Art de Roché, The Athletic, 29 Dec. 2024
Noun
  • Any hope the game might present some light relief had dissipated by the final whistle.
    Zak Garner-Purkis, Forbes.com, 29 May 2025
  • An hour after the final whistle, a police helicopter was still circling above the stadium ordering people through a speaker to promptly exit the parking lot.
    Mark Zeigler, Chicago Tribune, 25 May 2025
Noun
  • His voice—typically pitched between a bellow and a sneer—was instantly recognizable to the couple that night.
    Air Mail, Air Mail, 3 May 2025
  • In a movie climate where remakes tend to draw sneers of derision and claims that people have just gotten too lazy to invent anything new, Disney’s remakes of its own products are always a chief target.
    Stephanie Zacharek, TIME, 21 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • Modern thinkers stopped using these concepts altogether except in quotation marks, with a wink, a smirk, and a glance backward toward the unscientific past.
    Isaac Bashevis Singer, Harpers Magazine, 26 Mar. 2025
  • Aimee Lou Wood, who played Chelsea, couldn’t believe the attention on her toothy smirk.
    Brittany Talarico, People.com, 21 Apr. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Hissing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hissing. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.

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