Swish

English

Adjective

Swish (comparative Swisher or more Swish, superlative Swishest or most Swish)

1. (UK, colloquial) sophisticated; fashionable; smooth.

   This restaurant looks very swish — it even has linen tablecloths.

2. effeminate.

Noun

Swish (plural Swishes)

1. A short rustling, hissing or whistling sound, often made by friction.
2. A sound of liquid flowing inside a container.
   • 1898, J. Meade Falkner , Moonfleet Chapter 4

     There were four or five men in the vault already, and I could hear more coming down the passage, and guessed from their heavy footsteps that they were carrying burdens. There was a sound, too, of dumping kegs down on the ground, with a swish of liquor inside them, and then the noise of casks being moved.

3. A movement of an animal's tail
4. A twig or bundle of twigs, used for administering beatings; a switch
5. (basketball) A successful basketball shot that does not touch the rim or backboard.
6. An effeminate male homosexual.

Related terms

• swoosh
• whoosh

Verb

Swish (third-person singular simple present swishes, present participle swishing, simple past and past participle swished)

1. To make a rustling sound while moving.

   "She swishes the comb through her hair."

2. (basketball) To make a shot, as a perfect swish.

Thesaurus

assibilate, assibilation, babble, bent, bubble, burble, buzz, campy, classy, crinkle, de rigueur, effeminate, effervesce, effervescence, effervescing, elegant, exclusive, fashionable, fizz, fizzle, fizzling, frication, frictional rustling, fruity, gay, guggle, gurgle, hiss, hissing, homosexual, hush, hushing, in, kinky, lap, lisp, plash, plush, posh, purl, queer, rhonchus, ripple, ritzy, rustle, shush, shushing, sibilance, sibilate, sibilation, siffle, sigmatism, siss, sissing, sizz, sizzle, sizzling, slosh, smart, sneeze, sneezing, sniff, sniffle, snore, snort, snuff, snuffle, spit, splash, splutter, sputter, squash, squelch, squish, sternutation, stertor, stylish, susurrate, swank, swanky, swash, swell, tony, trendy, trill, wash, wheeze, whish, whisk, whisper, whistle, whistling, white noise, whiz, whoosh, with-it, zip

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɪʃ