humph

See also: Humph

English

Alternative forms

• hmph, hmpf, humf

Etymology

A natural utterance, first recorded in the mid-16th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /h(ə)mf/, [həɱf], [hɱ̩f], [ɱ̊ɱ̩f]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌmf, -əmf

Interjection

humph

1. (onomatopoeia) A sound, usually made with a closed mouth pouting, indicating annoyance, indignation, disapproval, doubt, or sighing.
   • 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

     `Beauty is too rare upon it. Give me no thanks, who am made happy by thy coming.' `Humph! old fellow,' said Leo aside to me in English, `the lady is very civil.'

   • 1913, Eleanor H. Porter, chapter 8, in Pollyanna‎^[1], L.C. Page, →OCLC:

     "There!" panted Pollyanna, hastily plucking a pink from a vase near by and tucking it into the dark hair where it would give the best effect. "Now I reckon we're ready to be looked at!" And she held out the mirror in triumph.
     "Humph!" grunted the sick woman, eyeing her reflection severely. "I like red pinks better than pink ones; but then, it'll fade, anyhow, before night, so what's the difference!"

Synonyms

• humbug

Translations

used to express doubt or disapproval

• Afrikaans: gmf
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 哼 (zh) (hēng), 噷 (zh) (hm, hēn, hèn)

• Finnish: pyh (fi), pöh (fi)
• French: hum (fr)
• German: hm (de)
• Japanese: ふふん (fufun), ふん (ja) (fun)
• Romanian: hm (ro), hâm
• Russian: гм (ru) (gm), гм (ru) (hm), хм (ru) (xm)
• Thai: ฮึ่ม (th) (hʉ̂m)

Verb

humph (third-person singular simple present humphs, present participle humphing, simple past and past participle humphed)

1. (intransitive) To utter "humph!" in doubt or disapproval.