sigh
Americanverb (used without object)
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to let out one's breath audibly, as from sorrow, weariness, or relief.
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to yearn or long; pine.
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to make a sound suggesting a sigh.
sighing wind.
verb (used with object)
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to express or utter with a sigh.
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to lament with sighing.
noun
verb
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(intr) to draw in and exhale audibly a deep breath as an expression of weariness, despair, relief, etc
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(intr) to make a sound resembling this
trees sighing in the wind
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to yearn, long, or pine
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(tr) to utter or express with sighing
noun
Usage
What does sigh mean? Sigh, an audible exhalation, conveys a broad range of emotions from sadness and disappointment to sarcasm and relief. People frequently write it out online to express such sentiments.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sighsimple
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sighssimple
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have sighedperfect
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has sighedperfect
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am sighingprogressive
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are sighingprogressive
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is sighingprogressive
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have been sighingperfect progressive
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has been sighingperfect progressive
Past
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sighedsimple
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had sighedperfect
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was sighingprogressive
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were sighingprogressive
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had been sighingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sigh
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English verb sighen, back formation from sihte “sighed,” past tense of Middle English siken, sichen “to sigh, moan,” Old English sīcan “to sigh, groan, long for”; noun derivative of the verb
Explanation
The sound that you make when you exhale loudly to show frustration, boredom, or relief is called a sigh. No matter how much you sigh during your family's annual car trip to the Grand Canyon, your dad won't drive any faster. Something that sounds like a human sigh is also called a sigh. The breeze might sigh in the still night air, or a screen door might sigh closed. The word sigh comes from the Old English word of the same meaning, sican, which was probably imitative, echoing the sound of a sigh.
Vocabulary lists containing sigh
"The Road Not Taken"
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"We Wear the Mask" by Paul Laurence Dunbar
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"The House on Mango Street" and "The Road Not Taken"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“It’s not maximalist enough,” she says with a sigh.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
At last, when Universal Studios began testing the ride this spring, Garner breathed a sigh of relief.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
Investors breathed a sigh of relief at the data and pared their bets on a Fed rate hike this month, though analysts warned the latest US-Iran flare-up could complicate matters.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
As substitutes poured off the bench in celebration, they could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
I sat down at the fortune-teller table and let out a heavy sigh.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
I don’t pay attention to eye rolls or impatient sighs that might have once given me pause.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 18, 2026
As cops breathed sighs of relief that he was an architect, those living in Massapequa "were astonished," Livoti said.
From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2026
For years, Wall Street worried that the market’s gains were too concentrated in the Magnificent Seven big tech stocks, and there were sighs of relief whenever that rally broadened out.
From Barron's ● Mar. 5, 2026
In the film’s slightly alternate reality, Charli sighs and goes along with what everyone else is telling her to do, simply because she’s never found herself in this position before.
From Salon ● Feb. 8, 2026
Celia tucks a strand of her wavy light brown hair behind one ear and sighs.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
He sighed and said: "Next. So many times – I have one more year."
From BBC ● May 18, 2026
The student body collectively sighed “Alas, this too,” but then mobbed the dorms anyway, cheering and hugging fearlessly with unmasked smiles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 9, 2026
"There was just a little bit of heat, then bam, they bombed again, and now nothing works," Yeromina sighed.
From Barron's ● Jan. 28, 2026
“When you get old, they push you aside,” he sighed.
From Slate ● Jan. 27, 2026
When she sighed, she deflated like a party balloon.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
But they couldn’t do that, one doctor said apologetically, sighing deeply.
From Salon ● May 27, 2026
Another seemingly innocuous cartoon shows a man at his desk sighing, "My train of thought has derailed."
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2025
“I’ve been laid off before,” Dave told me, sighing as he acknowledged that periods of looking for work are part of having a career.
From Slate ● May 20, 2025
“The camera’s on me, and I’m doing all this sighing and eye-rolling, having a great time and thinking ‘God, you’re really good.’
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2024
The fox, who was still on the ground sighing heavily under the burden of being misunderstood, suddenly stopped and raised her head.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
