air

/ˈɛə̯/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/ˈɛː/

air noun: the substance constituting Earth's atmosphere: a gaseous mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, and various trace gases. Also the pronunciation spelling of are.

Image: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

air (countable and uncountable, plural airs)

(uncountable) The substance constituting Earth's atmosphere: a gaseous mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, and various trace gases.
- This drill runs on compressed air.
- As you ascend, the air gets thinner.
1. The substance of the atmosphere seen as an agency of freshness.
  - I'm going outside to get some air.
  - Open the window and let some air into the room.
2. (historical) One of the four elements of the ancient Greeks and Romans.
3. (figuratively) The surrounding ambience or mood; see also in the air.
  - The air was tense as the judge rose to deliver his verdict.
4. (historical) A local environment or atmosphere, in the context of its effects on behavior, health, weather, etc.
  - Jeeves: Foreign travel often liberates emotions best kept in check, sir. The air of North America is notoriously stimulating in this regard, as witness the regrettable behavior of its inhabitants in 1776.
    B. Wooster: Hm? What happened in 1776, Jeeves?
    Jeeves: I prefer not to dwell on it, if it's...1991 May 12, “Kidnapped!”, in Jeeves and Wooster, Series 2, Episode 5
  - There was a tension in the air which made me suspect an approaching storm.
(uncountable, usually) The apparently open space above the ground which this substance fills, (historical) formerly thought to be limited by the firmament but (meteorology) now considered to be surrounded by the near-vacuum of outer space.
- The flock of birds took to the air.
(broadly, uncountable) The substance of the atmosphere on a planet other than Earth.
- The air on Mars is very thin and consists mostly of carbon dioxide.
A breeze; a gentle wind.
A feeling or sense.
- I strode into the room with an important air.
- to give it an air of artistry and sophistication
1. A sense of poise, graciousness, or quality.
  - "He is very plain, undoubtedly—remarkably plain:—but that is nothing compared with his entire want of gentility. I had no right to expect much, and I did not expect much; but I had no idea that he could be so very clownish, so totally without air. I had imagined him, I confess, a degree or two...1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter 4, in Emma: […], volume I, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC
2. (plural-normally) Pretension; snobbishness; pretence that one is better than others.
  - putting on airs
  - He read the letter aloud. Sophia listened with the studied air of one for whom, even in these days, a title possessed some surreptitious allurement.1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC
A melody or song, especially a solo; an aria.
- "If I," said Mr. Collins, "were so fortunate as to be able to sing, I should have great pleasure, I am sure, in obliging the company with an air; for I consider music as a very innocent diversion, and perfectly compatible with the profession of a clergyman[…]"1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], Pride and Prejudice: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC
- The lad, his son, had obtained a Jew's-harp, and learned to play upon it the profane airs of "Yankee Doodle," "Hail Columbia," "St. Patrick's Day," and "Auld Lang Syne."1850, T. S. Arthur, “Deacon Smith and his Violin”, in Sketches of Life and Character, Philadelphia: J. W. Bradley, →OCLC, page 70
(informal) Nothing; absence of anything.
An air conditioning system.
- Could you turn on the air?
- Hey, did you mean to leave the airs on all week while you were on vacation?
(obsolete) Any specific gas.
(uncountable, motor sports) The state of being briefly airborne during a jump.
A television or radio signal; (by extension) media broadcasts in general.
- Ernst gave a list of political activists who had been denied access to the air by private broadcasters, and pointed out that "Secretary Hoover's signature in New York sells for $150,000 to $200,000," thus limiting access to the air on the part of labor unions and other underrepresented groups.1996, Thomas Streeter, Selling the Air, →ISBN
- Coming to you live once a month, or whenever I feel like broadcasting a little pirate air.2001, Dana Stabenow, The Singing of the Dead, →ISBN, page 17
(uncountable) Publicity.

Verb

air (third-person singular simple present airs, present participle airing, simple past and past participle aired)

(transitive) To bring (something) into contact with the air, so as to freshen or dry it.
- I'll hang these clothes on the rack to air them.
(transitive) To let fresh air into (a room or a building), to ventilate.
- It's getting quite stuffy in this room: let's open the windows and air it.
(transitive) To make public (an opinion, concern, issue, secret, differences, etc); to present to public view (and sometimes discussion).
- Residents used the public meeting to air their concerns about the poor state of the roads.
- John Mayer has apologised for using a racist epithet in a recent interview with Playboy magazine, after a number of prominent black musicians aired their disapproval.2010 February 11, Rosie Swash, “John Mayer apologises after using N-word in Playboy interview”, in The Guardian
(transitive) To broadcast (a television show etc.).
- The BBC decided not to air the controversial episode.
(intransitive) To be broadcast.
- This game show first aired in the 1990s and is still going today.
(Multicultural-London-English, UK, slang, transitive) To ignore (a person).
- Why is this girl airing me?

Proper noun capitalized: AIR

AIR

(abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of All India Radio, the national public radio broadcaster of India.
(abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of American Institutes for Research, a nonprofit research organization in the United States.
The station code of Airport in Hong Kong.
(India, abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of All India Rank.

Also used as

air is also the pronunciation spelling of are.

air meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

air in Hindi

1. mixture of gases making up the atmosphere of the Earth: हवा havā, वायु vāyu
1.2. historical: one of the basic elements: हवा havā

air in Tamil

1. mixture of gases making up the atmosphere of the Earth: வாயு vāyu, காற்று kāṟṟu

air in Marathi

1. mixture of gases making up the atmosphere of the Earth: हवा havā

air in Urdu

1. mixture of gases making up the atmosphere of the Earth: ہوا havā, وایو vāyu
1.2. historical: one of the basic elements: ہَوا havā

More languagesFewer languages

air in Bengali: বায়ু baẏu
air in Telugu: గాలి gāli, వాయువు vāyuvu
air in Malayalam: വായു vāyu, വായുമണ്ഡലം vāyumaṇḍalaṁ, അന്തരീക്ഷം antarīkṣaṁ
air in Kannada: ಗಾಳಿ gāḷi, ವಾಯು vāyu
air in Punjabi: ਹਵਾ havā, ਵਾਯੂ vāyū
air in Gujarati: વાયુ vāyu
air in Odia: ବାୟୁ bāyu
air in Sanskrit: वायु vāyu, वात vāta
air in Sinhala: වාතය wātaya
air in Assamese: বায়ু bayu
air in Nepali: हावा hāwā
air in Pashto: هوا hawā
air in Tagalog: hangin, ere
air in Arabic: هَوَاء hawāʔ, جَوّ jaww, نَغَم naḡam
air in Malay: udara, hawa
air in Indonesian: udara, hawa, menyiarkan, menayangkan
air in Persian: هَوا دادن havâ dâdan
air in Thai: อากาศ aa-gàat, ออกอากาศ ɔ̀ɔk-aa-gàat
air in Vietnamese: không khí, khí
air in Myanmar: လေ le
Sindhi: ھوا havā
Dhivehi: ވައި vai

Examples of air in a sentence

He spoke with an air of finality.
Even at the busiest periods, an air of quiet orderliness pervades the hall, and the first impression gained by the traveller is one of efficiency, neatness and cleanliness.1951 October, H. A. Vallance, “Across Denmark by Lyntog”, in Railway Magazine, page 658:
I had no right to expect much, and I did not expect much; but I had no idea that he could be so very clownish, so totally without air.1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter 4, in Emma: […], volume I, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John...
“These members need air cover in the media.” Paid media is the admission ticket to enter the big-time Washington stage.2015, Gary Andres, Paul Hernnson, Lobbying Reconsidered: Politics Under the Influence, page 149:

All 40 example sentences with air

Synonyms of air

All synonyms of air

Forms of air

Noun
plural	airs
alternative especially	ayr
alternative form (obsolete)	aire
alternative form (obsolete)	ayre
alternative form (obsolete)	eyr
Verb
third-person singular present	airs
present participle	airing
past participle	aired
past	aired

Past tense of air: aired

Plural of air: airs

Origin of air

From Middle English aire, from Old French air, from Latin āēr, from Ancient Greek ἀήρ (aḗr). Displaced native Old English lyft. More at lift, loft.

Words formed from air

Phrases with air

171 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with air

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about air

What does air mean?: Air means the substance constituting Earth's atmosphere: a gaseous mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, and various trace gases.
What is air in Hindi?: Air in Hindi is हवा (havā), वायु (vāyu). See Air meaning in Hindi.
How do you use air in a sentence?: He spoke with an air of finality.
What part of speech is air?: Air can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce air?: Air is pronounced /ˈɛə̯/ (UK).
What is the plural of air?: The plural of air is airs.

Words near air in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: air (page history and authors); AIR (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-air.ogg, en-us-air.ogg.

Cite this entry: “air.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/air. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.