whirr
verb · noun
Simple meaning
Make a soft swishing sound.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
hwurIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈhwɝ
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.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Make a soft swishing sound
intransitive
To make a sibilant buzzing or droning sound.
Make a vibrant sound, as of some birds
transitive
To cause (something) to make such a sound.
To move or vibrate (something) with a buzzing sound.
intransitiveof a panther
To make a vibrating sound in its throat when contented, much like the domestic cat's purr.
noun
A sibilant buzz or vibration; the sound of something in rapid motion.
The vibrating sound made by a panther in its throat when contented.
A bustle of noise and excitement.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Typical Use
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Make a soft swishing sound
Used this way, whirr 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
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: sibilant buzz or vibration
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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.