shushy
adjEtymology From shush + -y (adjectival suffix).
1
Attempting to quieten or soothe.
- My little sister went to the library with us once, but she said she wouldn't come any more because she didn't like the shushy lady and the glasses man.1980, Dorothy Edwards, My Naughty Little Sister and Bad Harry, page 27:
- The girl with lighter-colored hair than normal down here said in a shushy voice: “Yes. Come with me. We'll take him home.”2008, Alan Burt Akers, Scorpio Assassin: Dray Prescot 39:
3 more examples
- I made shushy flapping movements with my hands, which only made him screech louder.2012, Caroline Green, Dark Ride:
- The first three times I drew stern, shushy looks.2015, Herb Payson, Blown Away, page 160:
- It sounds like a lullaby, all shushy and soothing.2017, Juliet Butler ·, The Less You Know The Sounder You Sleep:
2
Quiet or secretive.
- Then the audience and the actor would listen desperately for the frantic, shushy promptings of the nun in the wings.1947, Joseph Dever, No Lasting Home, page 34:
- You’d better wear the shoes you have on. They’re the shushiest ones you have.1956, Daphne Athas, chapter XV, in The Fourth World: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 158:
3 more examples
- This is a shushy time...2006, Vikki L. Jeanne Cleveland, The Wading Place, page 254:
- The adults were still being all shushy and secretive, so José read his books, Anna scribbled in her notebook, and Henry started a new game.2014, Kate Messner, Manhunt:
- “Do you notice how shushy it is around here?”2017, Barry Lancet, The Spy Across the Table:
3
Making a sibilant, whooshing sound, like the sound of the letters 'sh'.
- I have a hat on too and the heater is blowing on me with a shushy noise .2002, S. Kennedy Tosten, M for Mall, page 110:
- I decide to leave the window open and climb back into bed, hoping the shushy waves of traffic will lull me to sleep.2008, Jennifer Ziegler, How Not to Be Popular, page 160:
1 more example
- Remember, wear cotton clothing, not nylon or plastic, as synthetic fibers make “shushy” noises when you move, obviously spoiling your recording.2012, David Lewis Yewdall, The Practical Art of Motion Picture Sound: