These posts make me unreasonably cranky. So cranky, in fact, that every time a new one of these goddamn things crosses my dash, Iâm just going to dissect them. Both for the edification of newer writers and because fuck these lists.
As mentioned in previous posts: These are not synonyms for whispered. You canât use them interchangeably. Letâs go through them.
âWell,â she whispered, âI suppose I havenât got a choice.â
The character is speaking in a voice so low itâs become words made of breath, probably because she doesnât want to be heard.
âWell,â she murmured, âI suppose I havenât got a choice.â
The character is saying this very quietly, but above a whisper. She may be talking to herself.
âWell,â she mumbled, âI suppose I havenât got a choice.â
The character is speaking under her breath in low enough tones that her words may sound unclear or slurred. Also very possibly talking to herself.
âWell,â she muttered, âI suppose I havenât got a choice.â
The character is speaking lowly, but more clearly than a mumble. She sounds angry, irritated, or dully frustrated.
âWell,â she breathed, âI suppose I havenât got a choice.â
Breathing words may mean relief, exasperation, or exhaustion, and sound half like a sigh. Oh, lookâ
âWell,â she sighed, âI suppose I havenât got a choice.â
The character is almost certainly not happy. Sheâs speaking in a tired, heavy breath.
âWell,â she hissed, âI suppose I havenât got a choice.â
The characterâs words are coming out in low, very sharp breaths. She sounds angry, irritated, or maybe just in an intense moment.
âWell,â she mouthed, âI suppose I havenât got a choice.â
The character is using the barest hint of her voice, if any at all. Her lips are silently forming the syllables.
âWell,â she uttered, âI suppose I havenât got a choice.â
Using uttered in this particular type of descriptive sense actually just sounds awkward. That said, âutterâ sounds like a word that implies speech in low yet strong and loud tones, well-enunciated, like someone preaching.
âWell,â she intoned, âI suppose I havenât got a choice.â
The tone of her voice is dull and flat, with little variance in pitch. She is saying this without much emotion (intentionally or not).
âWell,â she purred, âI suppose I havenât got a choice.â
The manner sheâs speaking in is silky, smooth, and particularly pleased; quite possibly smug. In this particular example, this implies she probably does have a choice about [whatever it is] and is being facetious.
âWell,â she said in an undertone, âI suppose I havenât got a choice.â
This is bad, because an undertone is something that needs describing. Thatâs like saying âher dress was a colorâ.
âWell,â she gasped, âI suppose I havenât got a choice.â
The character is speaking in a sharp intake of breath, probably brought on by surprise or shock. She could also be short of breath, being strangled or something.
âWell,â she hinted, âI suppose I havenât got a choice.â
The character has particular (duh) hint-hint tones in her voice as she speaks to someone. One can just imagine her leaning over closer to their ear.
âWell,â she said low, âI suppose I havenât got a choice.â
Her voice has dropped below normal pitch, but is above a whisper. Thereâs a certain amount of dullness in the tone, probably.
âWell,â she said, into his ear, âI suppose I havenât got a choice.â
This implies nothing about the actual voice, just that sheâs literally speaking right into his ear (perhaps at normal volume, which would be painful). It doesnât, on its own, carry any connotations of tone or emotion.
âWell,â she said softly, âI suppose I havenât got a choice.â
I have a personal beef with the word âsoftlyâ on account of writers in a certain area of a certain MMO that use that word for fucking everything; speech, movement, touch, footsteps, because it helps to passively describe their character as delicate and pretty or something.
Itâs a personal beef. Thereâs nothing really wrong with the word. Moving on.
Saying something softly implies not only a lowered pitch but a certain gentleness (or at least lack of weight) in tone.
âWell,â she said under her breath, âI suppose I havenât got a choice.â
This is very like muttered, murmured, etc â it sounds (dur) breathier, and is more likely to imply a person talking to themselves.
âWell,â she said in hushed tones, âI suppose I havenât got a choice.â
Now youâre getting closer to an equal term for âwhisperedâ; hushed tones could mean that, or half-whispered. It does imply a certain amount of whisperiness or breathiness. It also implies a deliberate attempt to be quiet.
âWell,â she insinuated, âI suppose I havenât got a choice.â
Like with âutteredâ, this feels grammatically weird in that itâs usually a thing a person describes another person as doing (âGreg didnât say it, but he insinuated it!â), but whatever. Itâs similar to hinting; it means youâre trying to imply or subtly convey something, but has nothing to do with actual whispers.
tl;dr Those words are all different, these lists are terrible writing advice and people need to stop pulling tangentially-related words from the thesaurus and saying they all mean the same thing.