Home › Glossary › Letter S

swaying

Verb
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Moving slowly and rhythmically from side to side or back and forth; evokes gentle motion like trees in wind or rhythmic dance.

Detailed Definition
To sway is to move back and forth or side to side, often in a crowd or with motion. Whitman uses it for the “mass” of people, suggesting a living, shifting crowd.
Example
Example in poetry:
“The swaying mass, their eager faces turning” — Walt Whitman, “I Hear America Singing”; The swaying wheat makes the field seem like a green sea; Swaying branches mirror the dancer’s movement; Repeated soft sounds can imitate a swaying rhythm
Additional Notes
“Swaying” is common in general, but in this crowd image it may still prompt a reader to notice its exact descriptive use.; Found in the poem, O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman
Also Known As
oscillating undulating
Skip to main content