Word.ws English Dictionary

ehem

ehem is the alternative form of ahem.

Meaning of ahem

Interjection

  1. (onomatopoeic) The sound of a quiet cough or of clearing one's throat.
  2. Demanding attention.
    • Ahem! Could we please get started?
    Synonyms:
    hey
  3. Expresses disapproval or annoyance.
    • Ahem! In case you didn't notice, I did my share of the work, too.
    Synonyms:
    tut tut
  4. Indicates subtle sarcasm, polite lying, or euphemism.
    • I really (ahem!) liked the chocolate broccoli surprise.
  5. Indicates an unintentional or inappropriate pun.
    • The tone of Fat is casual and ahem, digestible, while also providing a succinct and significant overview of fatness and some of the issues most relevant to the burgeoning field of fat studies.2020 December 15, Jenna M. Wilson, “Fat by Hanne Blank, Bloomsbury Academic, 2020”, in Fat Studies, volume 10, number 2, →DOI, pages 205–207

See all 6 meanings of ahem

Questions about ehem

What is ehem the alternative form of?
Ehem is the alternative form of ahem.

Words near ehem in the dictionary

  1. Ehdhuffarumairah
  2. EHDs
  3. eHealth
  4. EHEC
  5. ehed
  6. ehem
  7. ehevi
  8. EHF
  9. ehh
  10. ehhed
  11. ehhh

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ehem (page history and authors); ahem (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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Cite this entry: “ehem.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ehem. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.