whoosh
/ʍʊʃ/noun, verb, interjection
whoosh is spelled W-H-O-O-S-H: 6 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 39,336th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, whoosh means “A breathy sound like that of an object passing at high speed” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of whoosh is whooshes.
How many letters and syllables are in whoosh?
| Letters | 6: W-H-O-O-S-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 39,336th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is whoosh?
Whoosh appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 39,336th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce whoosh?
- /ʍʊʃ/
- /wʊʃ/
- /ʍuːʃ/
Whoosh has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-whoosh.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of whoosh
- whooshes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- woosh
- whooshing participle, present
- whooshed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does whoosh mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A breathy sound like that of an object passing at high speed.
- 2
slangA homicide by shooting.
- 3
slangA gun.
verb
- 1
To make a breathy sound like a whoosh.
- 2
To pass by quickly.
- 3
To happen while bypassing someone's detailed awareness, to have someone miss the point.
- 4
To cause to pass quickly.
- 5
slangTo kill by gun, to shoot.
interjection
- 1
Imitates anything passing by quickly and more or less close.
- 2
Indicating that somebody has missed the point (i.e. it went over their head).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Whoosh in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense breathy sound:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | sifflement |
| Spanish | silbar, chuflar, zumbar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does whoosh come from?
Of imitative origin.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).