Sibilance Examples

Sibilance is a more specific type of alliteration that relies on the repetition of soft consonant sounds in words to create a wooshing or hissing sound in the writing.

Sally sells seashells by the seashore. (repetition of the "s")

Sing a song of sixpence. (repetition of the "s")

Charming child who changed the world. (repetition of the "ch")

A shark sliced through the water, charging toward the shore. (use of the "sh," "s," and "ch" sounds together)

Examples of Sibilance in Literature

From Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven":

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain. (use of the "s," soft "c," and "ch" all together)

From Dr. Seuss' There's a Wocket in my Pocket:

I am a zizzerzazzerzuzz, as you can plainly see. (repetition of the "z")

From "Sea Fever" by John Mansfield:

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by. (repetition of the "s" sound)

From Yeats' "The Lake Isle of Innisfree":

I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore (repetition of "s" toward the end of the line)