Susurrus

//ˈsu.sə.ɹəs// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A whispering or rustling sound; a murmur. literary

    "[Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi was] pelted with buckets of water by firemen, and, finally, currycombed and rubbed down by two grooms, keeping a sharp susurrus between them, so as to soothe his wounded feelings; […]"

  2. 2
    the indistinct sound of people whispering wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
aspirationbated breathbreathlow voicemumblemumbling

Example

More examples

"[Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi was] pelted with buckets of water by firemen, and, finally, currycombed and rubbed down by two grooms, keeping a sharp susurrus between them, so as to soothe his wounded feelings; […]"

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin susurrus (“a humming, whispering”); reduplication of imitative Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“to buzz, hum”).

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