Dictionary

stage whisper en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈsteɪdʒ ˈwɪs.pə/ (UK)
• (US) audio
• (Australia) audio
• /ˈsteɪdʒ ˈwɪs.pɚ/ (US)

Etymology

stage + whisper

Meanings

1. A line that is performed on stage as if it were whispered, but is spoken loud enough for the audience to hear.
   • Perhaps because of this, the convention of the 'stage whisper' came into being. All that distinguishes it from the true whisper is that a very little amount of voice in introduced and so what you end up with is extremely breathy voice production[…] 1998, Michael McCallion, The Voice Book, page 189:
   • Near to the audience the stage whisper was not much louder, although more distinct, than an ordinary whisper in private life. 1887, Sir Frederick Pollock, Personal Remembrances of Sir Frederick Pollock, page 248:
   • '[…]When the division was announced, he chuckled exceedingly, and in a stage whisper exclaimed, "Grey is check-mated !" ' 1869, “Lives of Lord Lyndhurst and Lord Brougham”, in The Edinburgh Review, volume CXXIX, pages 568–569:
   • "Pretty legs," said Rebo in a stage whisper as Peter slowed down. 2001, Shelley Freydont, High Seas Murder, page 326:
2. (broadly) Any loud whisper intended to be overheard.

Forms

Translations (10)

fr aparté ((theater) A line that is performed on stage as if it were whispered, but is spoken loud enough for the audience to hear) · fi teatterikuiskaus ((theater) A line that is performed on stage as if it were whispered, but is spoken loud enough for the audience to hear) · ru театра́льный шёпот ((theater) A line that is performed on stage as if it were whispered, but is spoken loud enough for the audience to hear) · pl szept teatralny ((theater) A line that is performed on stage as if it were whispered, but is spoken loud enough for the audience to hear) · ca apart ((theater) A line that is performed on stage as if it were whispered, but is spoken loud enough for the audience to hear) · ru в сто́рону ((theater) A line that is performed on stage as if it were whispered, but is spoken loud enough for the audience to hear) · sv teaterviskning ((theater) A line that is performed on stage as if it were whispered, but is spoken loud enough for the audience to hear) · pl szept sceniczny ((theater) A line that is performed on stage as if it were whispered, but is spoken loud enough for the audience to hear) · ru гро́мкий шёпот ((theater) A line that is performed on stage as if it were whispered, but is spoken loud enough for the audience to hear) · it in petto ((theater) A line that is performed on stage as if it were whispered, but is spoken loud enough for the audience to hear)

stage whisper en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈsteɪdʒ ˈwɪs.pə/ (UK)
• (US) audio
• (Australia) audio
• /ˈsteɪdʒ ˈwɪs.pɚ/ (US)

Etymology

stage + whisper

Meanings

1. To perform a stage whisper.
   • “The captain's voice, by G–!” said the stage-whispering ruffian, and both robbers fled by the way of the back door, shutting off their bull's-eye as they ran. 1883, Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi, chapter 31 "A Thumb-print and What Came of It"
   • Into this melodrama stepped the American defence secretary, Leon Panetta. He stopped in both countries, urged both sides to get along better and affirmed America’s pledge of mutual defence with Japan—though an unnamed senior American military official stage-whispered to the Washington Post that America wouldn’t go to war “over a rock”. 2012 September 22, “East Asian rivalry: protesting too much”, in The Economist:
   • [...] Bobbie sprang at me like a leopardess. “What on earth are you fooling about for like this, Bertie?” she stage-whispered. 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XVI, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:
   • The duet was embellished with stage-whispered solos [...] 1878, Things in General, volume 2, p. 132:
   • There is some evidence to suggest that in whispered speech, particularly stage whispered speech, the larynx is raised appreciably.

Forms