shh

S1H4H4
/ʃ̩ː/

interjection

Demanding silence.

Less commonScrabble 9

Meanings

shh1

interjection

alternative sh · alternative shhh · alternative ssh

  1. Demanding silence.
  2. Comforting one who is crying.
nounshh (plural shhes or shhs)

plural shhes · plural shhs · alternative sh · alternative shhh · alternative ssh

  1. An utterance of shh.

    Twenty-five million dollars each?! There were hmms and shhs around the table.

    1997, Southwestern American Literature, volume 22, page 121
    2 more examples

    “Shh,” says Jenny’s mother, “shh. / Give a shh and a giddyap with your borscht.” / A knock is heard on Gloria’s door. / “Remember is someone asleep in the house!” / Jenny gives a shh and laps up her borscht.

    1946, Helen Wolfert, Nothing Is a Wonderful Thing, Simon and Schuster, page 54

    And, unlike with a film, or a TV show, or a dreary drinks party, you can’t just leave when the boredom descends like an itchy blanket. You are imprisoned by the etiquette of theatre. You can’t even commit suicide without attracting a chorus of shhes as you splash arterial blood all over the orchestra pit.

    2009, Jeremy Clarkson, Driven to Distraction, Penguin Books, →ISBN
verbshh (third-person singular simple present shhes or shhs, present participle shhing, simple past and past participle shhed)

present singular third person shhes · present singular third person shhs · participle present shhing · participle past shhed · past shhed · alternative sh · alternative shhh · alternative ssh

  1. intransitivetransitiveTo utter shh.

    ‘No!’ Matt shhes.

    2007, Bonnie Rozanski, Borderline, The Porcupine's Quill, →ISBN, page 72
    3 more examples

    “Hey,” the test-taker who’d shhed sat up, glared, saw the exec, shut up, and hunched down over the test.

    1992, Analog Science Fiction and Fact, volume 112, page 70, column 1

    Deep breathing in your baby’s ear is just as effective as white noise, if not more. Try to avoid ‘shhing’ your baby as this can become more violent if done frequently and loudly. The other drawback is that shhing involves your stomach muscles and when you shh you become tense; the more you shh the more tense you become.

    2015, Chireal Shallow, The Gentle Sleep Solution: The Naturally Nurturing Way to Help Your Baby Sleep, Vermilion, →ISBN, “Deep breathe, don’t ‘shh’”

    “I brought coffee,” Landon says but Aurora shhs him.

    2019, Hanleigh Bradley, “Chapter Two: Tallulah”, in The Intimacy Series

shh2

nounshh (uncountable)

alternative SHH · alternative Shh

  1. abbreviationalternativeuncountableAlternative form of SHH (“sonic hedgehog”); Abbreviation of sonic hedgehog.

SHH3

nounSHH (plural SHHs)

plural SHHs

  1. abbreviationinitialismbiochemistryInitialism of sonic hedgehog homolog (protein).

    Synonyms: shh, Shh

  2. abbreviationinitialismbiologyInitialism of sonic hedgehog gene (“the gene encoding for the protein "sonic hedgehog"”).

    Synonyms: shh, Shh

Shh4

nounShh (uncountable)

alternative SHH · alternative shh

  1. abbreviationalternativeuncountableAlternative form of SHH (“sonic hedgehog”); Abbreviation of sonic hedgehog.

Synonyms & antonyms

Similar

Origin

From hush. Likely imitative of a nonverbal utterance. Compare Scots whisht (“hush!”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian шшт
  • шшт (ššt)requesting silence
Catalan moixoni
  • moixonirequesting silence
Chinese Cantonese 𭉝, 殊
  • 𭉝 (syu⁴)requesting silence
  • 殊 (syu⁴)requesting silence
Chinese Mandarin 噓 /嘘
  • 噓 /嘘 (xū, shī)requesting silence
Czech pst, pšt
  • pstrequesting silence
  • pštrequesting silence
  • tichorequesting silence
Dutch sst
  • sstrequesting silence
Esperanto ŝŝ, ĉit
  • ŝŝrequesting silence
  • ĉitrequesting silence
Finnish shh, hys
  • shhrequesting silence
  • hysrequesting silence
French chut
  • chutrequesting silence
German pst, pscht
  • pstrequesting silence
  • pschtrequesting silence
  • schtrequesting silence
Hebrew שֶׁקֶט
  • שֶׁקֶט (shéket)requesting silence
Hungarian pszt, pssz
  • psztrequesting silence
  • psszrequesting silence
  • csittrequesting silence
Irish fuist
  • fuistrequesting silence
Italian zitto, silenzio
  • zittorequesting silence
  • silenziorequesting silence
  • tacirequesting silence
Japanese しーっ, 叱
  • しーっ (shīt)requesting silence
  • 叱 (shi)requesting silence
Korean 쉿
  • 쉿 (swit)requesting silence
Latin st, tacē (te)
  • strequesting silence
  • tacē (te)requesting silence
Lithuanian ša, cit
  • šarequesting silence
  • citrequesting silence
  • šššrequesting silence
Norwegian hysj
  • hysjrequesting silence
Persian هیس
  • هیس (hiss)requesting silence
Polish sza, ciii
  • szarequesting silence
  • ciiirequesting silence
Portuguese psiu, psst
  • psiurequesting silence
  • psstrequesting silence
  • shhrequesting silence
Russian тсс, ш-ш-ш
  • тсс (tss)requesting silence
  • ш-ш-ш (š-š-š)requesting silence
  • ти́ше (tíše)requesting silence
  • ша (ša)requesting silence
  • чш (čš)requesting silence
  • цыц (cyc)requesting silence
Slovak pst
  • pstrequesting silence
Spanish chito, chitón
  • chitorequesting silence
  • chitónrequesting silence
Swahili usu
  • usurequesting silence
Swedish shh, hyssj
  • shhrequesting silence
  • hyssjrequesting silence
Turkish şşş
  • şşşrequesting silence
Vietnamese suỵt
  • suỵtrequesting silence
Cite this entry
APA

shh. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shh

MLA

“shh.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shh. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shh,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shh.

Source: shh on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.