murmuring

/ˈmʌrmərɪŋ/

Other forms: murmurings; murmuringly

Do you hear that murmuring? Murmuring is a low sound that's one step above whispering. And anyone or anything that makes such a sound can also be described as murmuring, like the murmuring audience in the theater just before the play begins.

Some murmuring is discontented or complaining, similar to the word muttering: "Restless murmuring filled the room as the best man's wedding speech dragged on longer than anyone expected." We can trace murmuring all the way back to a root, mor-mor, that it shares with the Sanskrit murmurah, "crackling fire," and the Greek mormyrein, "to roar."

Definitions of murmuring

1. adjective

   making a low continuous indistinct sound
   “like murmuring waves”

   synonyms: susurrant, whispering

   soft

   (of sound) relatively low in volume
2. noun

   a low continuous indistinct sound; often accompanied by movement of the lips without the production of articulate speech
   synonyms: murmur, murmuration, mussitation, mutter, muttering

   type of:

   sound

   the sudden occurrence of an audible event
3. noun

   a complaint uttered in a low and indistinct tone
   synonyms: grumble, grumbling, murmur, mutter, muttering

   type of:

   complaint

   an expression of grievance or resentment