breathed

7.0

Spoken very softly so it is almost a whisper

adjective
/briːðd/

: susurrante

She spoke a breathed apology that barely reached his ears.

Examples

She spoke in a breathed voice.
The room was silent except for her breathed plea for help.
In the darkness, a breathed warning was hardly audible.
The secret was only breathed to him.
She spoke in a breathed voice, making it difficult for anyone else to hear her.
He delivered his secrets in a breathed whisper that only I could hear.
The teacher gave instructions in a breathed tone to avoid disturbing the class.

Synonyms

to whisper

vsbreathed

586 1.0

To speak very quietly using only breath so one person can hear

is more generally barely audible rather than aimed at a single listener

to breathe

vsbreathed

29 7.4

To tell a secret

focuses on how something is said in a very quiet and barely audible way

whispered

vsbreathed

2.9

Said very quietly in a soft voice

is barely audible and often produced almost silently rather than voiced

uttered

vsbreathed

3.4

Said out loud

is specifically spoken in a very low and nearly inaudible manner

Antonyms

shouted

1.0

Someone says something very loudly because they feel angry or excited

Compounds

sweet-breathed

Literature

7.2

Having a pleasant smell coming from the mouth

How Softly

breathed

7.0

to murmur

11 4.2

to mutter

140 3.7

Surface Forms

breathed positive

Morphology

breathed = breathe (transparent) = breathe + ed

Regular past-participle/adjectival formation from the verb 'breathe' so the meaning 'produced with breath; softly uttered' is directly inferable.

Etymology

Breathed comes from the verb breathe, which means 'to take air in and out'. So a breathed word or sound is spoken very softly, like a quiet breath, and is hardly heard.