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Glite Dictionary
wheeziness

wheeziness

6.5
A noisy whistling sound when breathing because the air tubes are narrow
  • noun
  • /ˈwiːzniːs/
translation icon : sibilancia
  • His wheeziness made it difficult for him to speak clearly during the asthma attack.

Examples

  • After running for too long, she experienced severe wheeziness and had to sit down to catch her breath.

  • The doctor said that the child's wheeziness indicated a possible respiratory issue that needed further examination.

  • MAX: Dear Mary Daisy Dinkle, I cannot express myself very clearly at this moment and so I will list my emotions in the order they feel most intense... hurt, confuzzledness, betrayal, discomfort, distress and wheeziness.

    Mary and Max (2009)

Synonyms

wheeze
vswheeziness
20 6.3

A high whistling sound when breathing because the airways are partly blocked

is the ongoing condition of producing those breath sounds from narrowed airways
sibilance
vswheeziness
  • Specialized
8.1

A high wheezing sound in the lungs when airways are narrow

is the ongoing condition of producing high-pitched breath sounds from narrowed airways

How Wheezy

wheeziness
6.5
breathiness
  • Specialized
7.0

Surface Forms

wheeziness singular
wheezinesses plural

Morphology

wheeziness = wheezy (transparent) = wheeze + y + ness

Derived in two regular steps: 'wheeze' -> 'wheezy' -> 'wheeziness', so the adjectival meaning and the noun formation are predictable.

Etymology

The word wheeziness comes from the simple word wheeze, which copies the noisy breath people make when their airways are tight, like a soft 'whee' or a high whistle. So wheeziness means the state of having that high-pitched, whistling breath sound.