humph
/h(ʌ)mf/
humph interjection: a sound, usually made with a closed mouth pouting, indicating annoyance, indignation, disapproval, doubt, or sighing.
Interjection
- A sound, usually made with a closed mouth pouting, indicating annoyance, indignation, disapproval, doubt, or sighing.
- `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.'1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →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...1913, Eleanor H. Porter, chapter 8, in Pollyanna, L.C. Page, →OCLC
- Synonyms:
- humbug
Verb
humph (third-person singular simple present humphs, present participle humphing, simple past and past participle humphed)
- To utter "humph!" in doubt or disapproval.
Proper noun capitalized: Humph
Humph
- A diminutive of the male given name Humphrey.
humph meaning in Thai
humph in Thai
- used to express doubt or disapproval
- ฮึ่ม hʉ̂m
Synonyms of humph
Forms of humph
| Interjection | |
|---|---|
| alternative form | hmph |
| alternative form | hmpf |
| alternative form | humf |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | humphs |
| present participle | humphing |
| past participle | humphed |
| past | humphed |
Origin of humph
A natural utterance, first recorded in the mid-16th century.
Shortening.
Words that rhyme with humph
Questions about humph
- What does humph mean?
- Humph means a sound, usually made with a closed mouth pouting, indicating annoyance, indignation, disapproval, doubt, or sighing.
- What is humph in Thai?
- Humph in Thai is ฮึ่ม (hʉ̂m). See Humph meaning in Thai.
- What part of speech is humph?
- Humph can be an interjection, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce humph?
- Humph is pronounced /h(ʌ)mf/.
Words near humph in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: humph (page history and authors); Humph (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-humpf.ogg.
Cite this entry: “humph.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/humph. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.