Shh

//ʃ̩ː// intj, noun, verb

intj, noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An utterance of shh.

    "“Shh,” says Jenny’s mother, “shh. / Give a shh and a giddyap with your borscht.” / A knock is heard on Gloria’s door. / “Remember is someone asleep in the house!” / Jenny gives a shh and laps up her borscht."

  2. 2
    Alternative form of SHH (“sonic hedgehog”); Abbreviation of sonic hedgehog. abbreviation, alt-of, alternative, uncountable
  3. 3
    Initialism of sonic hedgehog homolog (protein). abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
  4. 4
    Alternative form of SHH (“sonic hedgehog”); Abbreviation of sonic hedgehog. abbreviation, alt-of, alternative, uncountable
  5. 5
    Initialism of sonic hedgehog gene (“the gene encoding for the protein "sonic hedgehog"”). abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
Verb
  1. 1
    To utter shh. intransitive, transitive

    "“Hey,” the test-taker who’d shhed sat up, glared, saw the exec, shut up, and hunched down over the test."

Intj
  1. 1
    Demanding silence.
  2. 2
    Comforting one who is crying.

Example

More examples

"Shh, you're speaking too loudly."

Etymology

From hush. Likely imitative of a nonverbal utterance. Compare Scots whisht (“hush!”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.