Home › Glossary › Letter W

whispered phrase

Phrase
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

A phrase delivered in hushed, intimate, or secretive tones; in poetry, it conveys confidentiality, conspiracy, or the quiet urgency of a private communication.

Detailed Definition
Whispered phrases simulate closeness through sibilance, short lines, and soft diction; they suggest confession, conspiracy, or sacred mystery, drawing the reader into privileged, breath-close revelation.
Example
Example in poetry:
Whispered phrase: “I forgive you—not because you asked, but because I must” (contemporary confessional poetry); “Stay—just a moment longer” (romantic lyricism in Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s tradition); “I still love you, though silence has claimed our words” (modern relationship elegy); “I will not forget the way you said my name” (testimonial poetry of witness and intimacy); “Even in shadow, you are with me” (spiritual whisper merging presence and absence)
Additional Notes
Whispered phrases convey intimacy or secrecy: “I forgive you”; they rely on quietness, proximity, and emotional vulnerability; use soft consonants, short lines, and pauses; avoid sentimentality—power lies in restraint; related to sigh phrase, silent phrase, and breath phrase; effective in confessional, love, or trauma poetry.
Also Known As
quiet phrase hushed utterance intimate whisper
Skip to main content