Word.ws English Dictionary

Whispering Jack

Whispering Jack proper noun: a person who vocalizes quietly, in a whispering manner, or, ironically, one who is loud and outspoken.

Proper noun

Whispering Jack

  1. (informal) A person who vocalizes quietly, in a whispering manner, or, ironically, one who is loud and outspoken.
    • The two who sat at a table in an obscure corner of the room were the noted burglars "Whispering Jack" and "Jim the Cracksman," as they were nick-named by their associates.1879 Jan., "A Night with Burglars" in Gleason's Monthly Companion, vol. 8, no. 1, p. 281 (Google preview)
    • [T]he microphone enabled a Whispering Jack Smith to make a rhythmic mumble pass for singing and gave Bing Crosby a means of taking advantage of his casual, intimate style.1981 March 8, John S. Wilson, “Barbara Cook—Pop and Polish”, in New York Times, retrieved 27 Jul 2014

Examples of Whispering Jack in a sentence

  • Case 3 Whispering Jack: Jack was a quiet and perceptive young man who was well respected by his peers.2002, J. John Loughran, Developing Reflective Practice, →ISBN, page 136:
  • Under the lone operating streetlight, Whispering Jack comes into full view. . . .2004, Ray Scott, Street Justice, →ISBN, page 55:
  • Some referred to him as "Whispering Jack" for his booming voice while many others called him Pappy.2005 December 28, “John Travis Garrett”, in ancestry.com, retrieved 27 Jul 2014:
  • Whispering Jack Reddington graduated from the Colorado School of Mines in 1899 and began his career as a mining engineer.c. 2009, B. J. Sears, “Reddington's Phonelescope”, in Professor Sears' Technological Rarities, retrieved 27 Jul 2014:

Origin of Whispering Jack

Most famously associated with singer Whispering Jack Smith (1898-1950), but in earlier use as a nickname.

Questions about Whispering Jack

What does Whispering Jack mean?
Whispering Jack means a person who vocalizes quietly, in a whispering manner, or, ironically, one who is loud and outspoken.
How do you use Whispering Jack in a sentence?
Case 3 Whispering Jack: Jack was a quiet and perceptive young man who was well respected by his peers.
What part of speech is Whispering Jack?
Whispering Jack is a proper noun.

Words near Whispering Jack in the dictionary

  1. whispering
  2. whispering campaign
  3. whispering campaigns
  4. whispering galleries
  5. whispering gallery
  6. Whispering Jack
  7. whispering-gallery mode
  8. whispering-gallery modes
  9. whispering-gallery wave
  10. whispering-gallery waves
  11. whisperingly

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Whispering Jack (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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