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murmur

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A low continuous indistinct sound.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

murmer

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈmɝmɚ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A low continuous indistinct sound; often accompanied by movement of the lips without the production of articulate speech

  2. countableuncountable

    Any low, indistinct sound, like that of running water.

  3. countableuncountable

    Soft indistinct speech.

  4. A complaint uttered in a low and indistinct tone

  5. A muttered complaint or protest; the expression of dissatisfaction in a low muttering voice; any expression of complaint or discontent.

verb

  1. intransitive

    To speak or make low, indistinguishable noise; to mumble, mutter.

  2. transitive

    To say (something) indistinctly, to mutter.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient
Frequency
Uncommon
Typical Use
Primarily written

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A low continuous indistinct sound; often accompanied by movement of the lips without the production of articulate speech

Used this way, murmur is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use murmur

  • “She murmured softly to the baby in her arms.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Low / soft

continuous murmur

Abnormal / sound

heart murmur

Other combinations

systolic murmurlow murmurdiastolic murmurrespiratory murmursoft murmurgeneral murmur

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • murmur vowelnounCompound term

    A schwa that is incidental to the pronunciation of a consonant.

  • cardiac murmurnounCompound term

    An abnormal sound of the heart.

  • heart murmurnounCompound term

    An abnormal sound of the heart.

  • systolic murmurnounCompound term

    A murmur heard during systole.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: to speak or make low or indistinguishable noise

grumble

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.