Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
h’m or hmm [hmm] Examples interjection
- (used typically to express thoughtful absorption, hesitation, doubt, or perplexity.)
Examples from the Web for hmm Contemporary Examples of hmm
Hmm, who are these people standing in front of the machines at the gym, neither occupying them nor not occupying them?
How to Survive the New Year ‘Gympocalypse’
Tim Teeman
January 6, 2015
Hmm, I can think of one self-respecting sister who would hide.
Lifetime’s ‘Girlfriend Intervention’: The Fairy Black Mothers TV Doesn’t Need
Phoebe Robinson
September 25, 2014
To which one would say: Hmm, the homeless man with perfect organs would have had to have been over 500 years old.
Atheist King Richard Dawkins’ Rape Fantasy
Tim Teeman
July 31, 2014
She pulls and pinches at the fabric and says, “Hmm,” which is hard to interpret.
Jacob Tomsky Wears Mantyhose (Men’s Pantyhose) for a Week
Jacob Tomsky
February 19, 2013
Hmm, I wonder what it was about Obama that inflamed passions so.
Michael Tomasky on How the GOP Invented Mitt Romney’s “Moochers”
Michael Tomasky
September 20, 2012
Historical Examples of hmm
Hmm—does our law judge a man without giving him a fair hearing?
S.D. Gordon
Hmm, I’d take your donkey an’ give back considerable to boot.
Evelyn Raymond
Hmm—he might, although a foreigner, be forced to take a journey to Siberia.
Jules Claretie
Hmm, it’s not as fragrant as might be; that is, Not before it’s smeared.
Aristophanes
“Hmm,” Rupert murmured, more interested in his letter than in the conversation.
Andre Norton
British Dictionary definitions for hmm hmm interjection
- a sound made when considering or puzzling over something
h’m interjection
- used to indicate hesitation, doubt, assent, pleasure, etc
Word Origin and History for hmm
representative of a sound made during contemplation or showing mild disapproval, attested from 1868, but this is probably a variation of the hum attested in similar senses from 1590s.