How to use wisp in a sentence

30 example sentences · noun, verb

Wisp means a small bundle, as of straw or other like substance; a twisted handful of something; any slender, flexible structure or group. Example: “A wisp of hair escaped her barrette and whipped wildly in the wind.”

Examples of wisp by meaning

nounA small bundle, as of straw or other like substance; a twisted handful of something; any slender, flexible structure or...

A wisp of hair escaped her barrette and whipped wildly in the wind.
a wisp of a child

nounA small, thin line of cloud, smoke, or steam.

A wisp of smoke rose from the candle for a few moments after he blew it out.
Across the country a wisp of smoke showed, then gunyahs, and in a moment more we were right in the bush camp.1937, Ion L. Idriess, Over the Range, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, published 1947, page 83

nounAn immeasurable, indefinable essence of life; soul.

Then some angel of grace lent her a few wisps, which she grasped.1982, Kamala Markandaya, Shalimar, Harper & Row, →ISBN, page 154
Apparently it had been too much; for his sleep, though deep as death itself, was not dreamless this time, but threaded with ghostly wisps of dreams.1987, John E. Woods, Patrick Süskind, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer=Das Parfum, Pocket Books, page 163
He was a wisp of spirit — all his substance, the meat of his being, the coat of flesh that had always slowed him, had long since slipped away.2006, Paul Theroux, Blinding Light: A Novel, Mariner Book, →ISBN, page 84

nounA flock of snipe.

A flock of snipe is given the collective name of a "wisp", perhaps due to its rapid twisting and turning before the birds drop down again.1988, Michael Cady, Rob Hume, editors, The Complete Book of British Birds, page 158
Wisps of snipe and badlings of duck sprang into the air1921 October, Samuel Scoville Jr., “High Sky”, in Mary Mapes Dodge, editor, St. Nicholas, volume XLVIII, page 1062

verbTo emit in wisps.

It looked warm and rosy-bright inside, with a little chimney wisping smoke, little windows glowing.2011, Iain Lawrence, The Winter Pony, page 219

More sentences with wisp

A few gray wisps straggled from underneath his cap.From the entry straggle
He was old, with wisps of white hair barely covering the top of his head.2014, Lynda Behling, Claire, →ISBN. From the entry Kennie
He pulled a stray wisp of hair from the thick braid that reached her waist.2010, Jennifer Maruno, Warbird, Napoleon Publishing, →ISBN, page 85. From the entry scissor
Would wisps of dragonbreath betray Ythra’s position before they came face to face?2002 October, Edward M. Lerner, “Survival Instinct”, in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, volume CXXII, number 10, page 42, column 2. From the entry dragonbreath
Ironstone chipped against ironstone invokes a spark and a wisp of the same heady smoke.1977, J. M. Coetzee, In the Heart of the Country, Penguin, published 1982, page 61. From the entry ironstone
Wisps of straw stuck in the workdog’s coat, mud was on her feet, she reeked of cow.1944, Emily Carr, “The Cousins’ Bobtails”, in The House of All Sorts. From the entry work dog
Smoke rose in filmy wisps from some of the draclings' nostrils; others made faint, fluttery whistlings as they slept.2010, Susan Fletcher, Sign of the Dove, page 70. From the entry marvelsome
Oh, look, our mam, there's a wisp of snipe and an exultation of skylarks flying over that clouder of cats!2001, Gervase Phinn, Over Hill and Dale, Penguin Books Limited. From the entry exultation
A wisp of a girl with dark hair and doey eyes, she is dwarfed by those around her.1982 September 19, “Francey Babischkin”, in The Miami Herald, page 14. From the entry doey
Provincetown, Mass., the artsy beach town on the frothy final wisp of Cape Cod, swells with sandy-toed visitors in the peak summer months.2019 September 27, Kathryn O’Shea-Evans, “Five Places to Visit in Provincetown, Mass., with John Derian”, in The New York Times. From the entry P-town
WISPS of mournful tunes from a cane flute mingled with the plucking, jangling arabesques of the zitherlike qanun, the oud and gentle drums.2009 June 21, Daniel J. Wakin, “Ensemble Ambitions in a World Divided”, in New York Times. From the entry qanun
The wisping mists of cold that scarved the tubes grew more dense, more active, until the whole room was clammy with their breath.1982, Ardath Mayhar, chapter 3, in Runes of the Lyre, New York, N.Y.: Atheneum, →ISBN, page 85. From the entry scarve
I thought I saw Him in the Long Walk there, by the bed of Nelly Roche, tending a fallen flower with a wisp of bast.1919, Ronald Firbank, Valmouth, Duckworth, hardback edition, page 87. From the entry bast
The terrorist, as he called himself, was old and bald, with a narrow, snow-white wisp of a goatee hanging limply from his chin.1906 January–October, Joseph Conrad, chapter III, in The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (Collection of British Authors; 3995), copyright…. From the entry goatee
Seen in the darkness, it was that of an evil-looking, thick-set savage, with a forbidding countenance dotted unevenly with scrabbly wisps of beard.1906, Bertram Mitford, Harley Greenoak's charge, page 254. From the entry scrabbly
Her complexion was of an unhealthy yellowish hue, and a few wisps of the same yellowish-hued hair straggled stringily down her thin temples.1903, McClure's Magazine. From the entry stringily
She couldn't wear a hair grip or slide to hold her hair back in case friction caused the powder to ignite so wisps escaped and yellowed too.2013, Maggie Hope, Molly's War, page 152. From the entry hair grip
Next came a glittering cloud, all wisps and sparkles, which eventually revealed itself to be Miss Daisy Athensasy in a swansdown-trimmed gown and a mineful of diamonds.2008, James Lear, The Secret Tunnel, Cleis Press, →ISBN, page 44. From the entry mineful
He knew the snipey corners for five miles round, and could move unerringly on the tuft or ditch where the wisp of birds would be found.1923, Shane Leslie, Doomsland, page 68. From the entry snipey
As it thinned from the density of AstroTurf to spare wisps, he hid his head under a beanie before logging on to play video games on the livestreaming platform Twitch.2023 December 13, Callie Holtermann, “Losing Hair, Gaining Followers”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 04 Feb 2024. From the entry Zeph

Meaning of wisp

noun A small bundle, as of straw or other like substance; a twisted handful of something; any slender, flexible structure or group.
noun A small, thin line of cloud, smoke, or steam.
noun A whisk, or small broom.

Full definition of wisp

Questions about wisp in a sentence

How do you use wisp in a sentence?: Wisp is used as a noun and verb. For example: “A wisp of hair escaped her barrette and whipped wildly in the wind.”
What is a short sentence with wisp?: “a wisp of a child”
What does wisp mean?: Wisp means a small bundle, as of straw or other like substance; a twisted handful of something; any slender, flexible structure or group.

Adapted from Wiktionary: wisp (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use wisp in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/wisp. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.