1
general::
noun ADJ. barely audible, the barest, faint, gentle, hushed, low, mere/the merest, soft | fierce, harsh | audible, loud, stage ‘I knew this would happen,’ he said in a stage whisper (= one that he wanted everyone to hear). | hoarse, husky, strangled | awed, excited, urgent | confidential, conspiratorial PREP. above a ~ Their voices were very quiet, hardly above a whisper. | in a ~ They spoke in whispers., verb ADV. softly | hoarsely, huskily, thickly | fiercely, urgently ‘Come on,’he whispered urgently. | brokenly, shakily, unsteadily | angrily, bitterly, furiously | confidentially, conspiratorially | excitedly | almost, half | back ‘Yes, ’ I whispered back. VERB + WHISPER can/could only He could only whisper in reply. | hear sb She heard him whisper her name. PREP. about I felt that everyone was whispering about me. | against ‘Hush, ’ he whispered against her hair. | through ‘No, ’ he whispered through gritted teeth. | to ‘Let's go,’ she whispered to Anne. PHRASES whisper sth in/into sb's ear, whisper sweet nothings He held her and whispered sweet nothings in her ear.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
4
general::
different ways of saying something
whisper
to say something very quietly, using your breath rather than your full voice:
• ‘Don’t wake the baby,’ Jenny whispered.
mumble
to say something quietly without pronouncing the words clearly:
• He mumbled his thanks.
mutter
to say something quietly, especially when you are annoyed but do not want someone to hear you complaining:
• ‘This is ridiculous,’ he muttered under his breath. • She muttered something about having to go home early.
murmur
to say something in a soft slow gentle voice:
• She stroked his hair and murmured, ‘Don’t worry. You’ll be all right.’
growl
to say something in a low angry voice:
• ‘As I was saying,’ Lewis growled, ‘it needs to be finished today.’
snarl
to say something in a nasty angry way:
• ‘Get out of my way!’ he snarled.
exclaim
to say something suddenly and loudly:
• ‘How beautiful!’ she exclaimed.
blurt out
to suddenly say something without thinking, especially something embarrassing or secret:
• It was partly nervousness that had made him blurt out the question.
stammer/stutter
to speak with a lot of pauses and repeated sounds, because you have a speech problem, or because you are nervous or excited:
• ‘I’ll, I’ll only be a m-moment,’ he stammered.
Longman-Thesaurus