Italian word of the day: 'Sussurrare'

Italians are not exactly known for keeping their voices down.

But when they do, you might like to know that the Italian verb meaning 'to whisper' or 'to murmur' is the delightfully onomatopoeic sussurrare.

- Sussurralo

- Whisper it

It can also be used to talk about rumours and furtive gossip.

- si sussurra che..

- it's rumoured that...

- gli sussurrò qualcosa all'orecchio

- he whispered something in his ear

Sussurro is the noun meaning “a whisper”

-Non più di un sussurro

- No more than a whisper

Otherwise, you can use the equally onomatopoeic verb bisbigliare (try repeating it out loud quickly).

- È sgarbato bisbigliare davanti a noi.

- t's rude to whisper in front of us.

- Non serve bisbigliare

- There's no need to whisper

With words this beautiful (and which are also fun to say) it's worth finding ways to use them as often as possible in Italian - no matter how loud your family is.

Here are some more of our favourite words in Italian.

Do you have an Italian word you'd like us to feature? If so, please email us with your suggestion.