The Ranger’s Apprentice series is one of my favorites in kid lit. It’s got adventure, compelling characters, humor, and some great vocabulary. Author John Flanagan lightly peppers his middle grade fiction with good words for kids to learn (and adults to review), like taciturn, truculent, and today’s Wondrous Word, susurration.
To learn more new words, join the Wondrous Words Wednesday meme, hosted by Kathy at Bermuda Onion. Bloggers share words from their reading or some of their favorites. It’s great fun for word nerds.
I’m listening to The Ranger’s Apprentice: Book 5, The Sorcerer in the North. I had to go back and find this sentence with a word I’d never heard before (my kids had never heard of it either!). In this passage, the main character walks through the woods at night and starts to hear whispering.
It was an almost imperceptible susurration that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere.
Susurration \sü-sǝ-’rā-shǝn\ noun, from the Latin susurrus, hum or whisper
- A whispering sound or murmur.
This is one of those words that sounds like what it means!
Word Nerd Workout
Can you use susurration in a sentence? My try:
The susurration coming from the living room lasted well into the night and kept me from sleeping.
Your turn!
Don’t forget to visit Kathy’s site to learn more interesting words. Come back Friday when I’ll tell you a little bit more about why you should read, or listen to, The Ranger’s Apprentice series.
Thanks for getting nerdy with me today!
Julia
Susurration
a soft whispering sound, whisper, murmur
Use Susurration in a sentence
The silence fell sharply, but the faint susurration of their voices went on.
I am really tired and need a peaceful beach, the sound of a calm susurration of waves.
He heard the distant susurration of waves and filled with peace.
These are great examples. Thanks!
LOL. For some reason, I looked at that word and thought it meant a festering sore. Phew. Glad to learn that it’s just a murmuring sound. I wonder what word I was thinking of?
Thanks for the reminder, Julia. I keep running into this word and forgetting its meaning.
Never heard this one before, it DOES sound like its meaning. Here’s my attempt at using it.
“She heard the susurration of her parents speaking in bed. She couldn’t understand what was going on, but the hissing murmur sounded like something was wrong.”
Didn’t Harry susurrate to the snake in one of the Harry Potter books? I feel like I looked that word up when I read one of those books. It does sound like what it means!
A good new word.
It DOES sound like its meaning~ neat!