📝 Repeated s sounds 😮‍💨 A wheezing sound 🎤 A hissing sound

sibilance

8.1

A high wheezing sound in the lungs when airways are narrow

noun
/ˈsɪbɪləns/

Specialized

: sibilancia

Listening closely, I could hear the sibilance of the wind as it passed through the narrow gap in the fence.

Examples

Sibilance, sibilance.

Bachelorette (2012)
- Sibilance.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters (2007)
Sibilance, sibilance.

Bachelorette (2012)
The doctor noted a distinct sibilance in the patient's breathing, suggesting a possible obstruction in the airways.
During the examination, the nurse detected a high-pitched sibilance indicative of respiratory distress.

Synonyms

wheeziness

vssibilance

6.5

A noisy whistling sound when breathing because the air tubes are narrow

is the actual high-pitched breathing sound indicating airway narrowing

wheezing

vssibilance

6.1

A high whistling or rough sound that you make when breathing is hard

is the specific high-pitched sound heard not the act of producing it

Antonyms

eupnea

Specialized

9.9

Breathing that is normal and easy when someone is resting

Surface Forms

sibilance singular

sibilances plural

Morphology

sibilance = sibilant (semi-transparent) = sibil + ance

Formally a regular noun derived from the adjective 'sibilant' (hissing), but the base is a technical/Latin-derived term that may be unfamiliar to many learners.

Etymology

Sibilance comes from the Latin sibilare, which means 'to hiss'. When air moves through narrow airways it makes a soft hissing sound like an 's' while breathing, so doctors call that sound sibilance.