Word
psst
UK/psst/
Definition
interj. a sound you make to get someone's attention quietly. You use it when you want to talk to someone without other people hearing.
interj. an onomatopoeic sound used to attract attention or signal a desire to speak privately.
Examples
“Psst, can you come over here for a second?”
“He gave a quiet psst to his friend across the room to let him know they needed to talk.”
“The whisper of the wind was barely audible over the rustling leaves, but a sharp psst from the bushes made the hikers pause and look around.”
Examples
simple
“Psst, can you come over here for a second?”
contextual
“He gave a quiet psst to his friend across the room to let him know they needed to talk.”
complex
“The whisper of the wind was barely audible over the rustling leaves, but a sharp psst from the bushes made the hikers pause and look around.”
Etymology
Imitative. Imitative of the similar sounds people use to call animals such as cats.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/psst