him
/ˈhɪm/
him pronoun: with dative effect or as an indirect object.
Pronoun (1)
him (personal pronoun, objective case)
- With dative effect or as an indirect object.
- […]therfoꝛ Chꝛiſt wold not call him abominable / But the verye abomination it ſilf.1529, John Frith, A piſtle to the Chriſten reader […]
- ‘I promise,’ he said as I gave him the papers.1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, Westminster [London]: Archibald Constable and Company, […], →OCLC
- Following a preposition.
- She was in no humour for conversation with anyone but himself; and to him she had hardly courage to speak.1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], Pride and Prejudice: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC
- With accusative effect or as a direct object.
- ‘He's got it buttoned in his breast. I saw him put it there.’1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC
- As a grammatical subject or object when joined with a conjunction.
- Now him and Bernie are best friends.
- He released a [statement] warning that him and 25,000 troops were going to stage a coup.
- Used in isolation or apposition, or (sometimes proscribed) as the complement of the copula (be).
- Who was there? —Him.
- Who did this? —Him. He did it. (or:) It was him. He did it.)
- Used reflexively: (to) himself.
- Apon a daye apoynted, the kynge arayed hym in royall apparell, and set hym in his seate, and made an oracion unto them.1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts
- Though poor the peasant’s hut, his feasts though small,
He sees his little lot the lot of all;
[...]
But calm, and bred in ignorance and toil,
Each wish contracting, fits him to the soil.1765, Oliver Goldsmith, The traveller, or, A prospect of society
- With nominative effect: he, especially as a predicate after be, or following a preposition.
- Before my body, I throw my warlike Shield: Lay on Macduffe, And damn'd be him, that first cries hold, enough.c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- Lowe quit the West Wing last year amid rumours that he was unhappy that his co-stars earned more than him.2003 June 11, Claire Cozens, The Guardian
- A person of elevated skill at a sport, game, or other activity.
- Stop trying that, you're not him bro.
- Bro thinks he's him.
- Synonyms:
- that guy, that nigga
Noun
him (plural hims)
- A male person or animal.
- I think this bird is a him, but it may be a her.
- […] daring dizzying passages in other, fleeting and passionate dwellings within the hims and hers whom she inhabits […]1985, Hélène Cixous, Sorties (translated)
- Synonyms:
- he
Pronoun (2) capitalized: HIM
HIM
- Initialism of His Imperial Majesty.
- Initialism of Her Imperial Majesty.
Pronoun (3) capitalized: Him
Him
- Honorific alternative letter-case form of him, sometimes used when referring to God or another important figure who is understood from context.
- ☐ Try a conversational journaling approach, where you talk with God about what you are learning and write what you 'hear' Him saying to you (see Appendix 1 for examples)2015, Helen Calder, “Consider a Fresh Approach to Bible Study”, in Deeper: 6 Steps to Greater Intimacy with God and His Word, David McCracken Ministries, →ISBN, page 41
Proper noun capitalized: Him
Him (plural Hims)
- A surname from Khmer.
him meaning in Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Arabic
him in Hindi
- dative / indirect object
- उसे use
him in Telugu
- accusative / direct object
- వాణ్ని vāṇni, అతణ్ని ataṇni, ఆయన్ని āyanni
him in Malayalam
- accusative / direct object
- അവൻ avaṉ
him in Arabic
- dative / indirect object
- ـهُ -hu, ـهِ -hi, إِيَّاهُ ʔiyyāhu
- objective after preposition
- ـهُ -hu, ـهِ -hi
- accusative / direct object
- ـهُ -hu, ـهِ -hi, إِيَّاهُ ʔiyyāhu
Examples of him in a sentence
- Who did that? —(It was) not him: I was watching him the whole time.
- They must have amnesia, they forgot that I'm him.2023, PLUMMCORP RECORDS, 0:33 from the start, in dracula flow 3:
- By this time, she had so many questions, but she only hit him up for one answer about those “hims” and “hers.” She asked, “Do both hims and hers reproduce hummers?”2004, Charles J. Sullivan, Love and Survival, page 68:
Synonyms of him
Forms of him
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | hims |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Hims |
Origin of him
From Middle English him, from Old English him, from Proto-Germanic *himmai (“to this, to this one”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian him (“him”), West Frisian him (“him”), Sylt North Frisian ham, höm (“him”), Dutch hem (“him”), German Low German hum, hüm, em (“him”), German ihm (“him”, dative).
A surname of Khmer origin.
Words formed from him
Phrases with him
- piss be upon him
- peace be upon him
- put him in to get him out
- evil to him that evil thinks
- evil be to him who evil thinks
- shame to him who thinks ill of it
- wouldn't shout if a shark bit him
- give a dog a bad name and hang him
- shame be to him who thinks evil of it
- let him who is without sin cast the first stone
- let him that is without sin cast the first stone
- you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink
1 more phrasesFewer phrases
Words that rhyme with him
Questions about him
- What does him mean?
- Him means with dative effect or as an indirect object.
- What is him in Hindi?
- Him in Hindi is उसे (use). See Him meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use him in a sentence?
- Who did that? —(It was) not him: I was watching him the whole time.
- What part of speech is him?
- Him can be a pronoun, a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce him?
- Him is pronounced /ˈhɪm/.
Words near him in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: him (page history and authors); HIM (page history and authors); Him (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:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-him.ogg.
Cite this entry: “him.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/him. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.