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
  • By the time the half-time whistle had been blown, England were leading 5-0, Beever-Jones had completed her hat-trick, Hampton had yet to lay a glove on the ball and the backspace key was taking an absolute hammering.
    Ali Rampling, New York Times, 31 May 2025
  • However, referee Thomas Bramall blew his whistle, on the reasonable basis that, from his angle, Bayindir had two hands on the ball, which, by the laws of soccer, would mean Rogers had committed a foul.
    Zak Garner-Purkis, Forbes.com, 28 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
  • But watching a group of roughnecks on a rig in grubby overalls moving huge, long steel pipes, Dugan's smile begins to fade to a smirk.
    Kirk Siegler, NPR, 24 Apr. 2025
  • 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
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 19 Jun. 2025.

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