cigarette

American  

[sig-uh-ret, sig-uh-ret] / ˌsɪg əˈrɛt, ˈsɪg əˌrɛt /

Or cigaret

noun

cigarettes plural

1. a cylindrical roll of finely cut tobacco cured for smoking, considerably smaller than most cigars and usually wrapped in thin white paper.

---

cigarette British  

/ ˌsɪɡəˈrɛt /

noun

1. Shortened forms: cig.   ciggy.  a short tightly rolled cylinder of tobacco, wrapped in thin paper and often having a filter tip, for smoking

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• anticigarette
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• cigarettes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of cigarette

1820–30; < French, equivalent to cigare cigar + -ette -ette

Explanation

A small tube of paper that's filled with tobacco and lit with a match is a cigarette. Because cigarettes take a terrible toll on smokers' health, the number of people who smoke them has declined recently. Most cigarettes come in packages, each cigarette a perfect slim cylinder topped with a filter. When a cigarette is smoked all the way to this filter, it becomes a "butt." The main chemical in cigarettes is called nicotine, and it's extremely addictive — other additives in cigarettes can cause various cancers and lung diseases. Because of these dangers, cigarettes are regulated and highly taxed. The word itself comes from the French, meaning "little cigar."

Example Sentences

These included the Sarimukti Landfill in Bandung Regency, which torched dozens of hectares of land, and was suspected of having been caused by cigarette butts and a buildup of methane gas.

From BBC • Jul. 8, 2026

Operating like a cigarette lighter, this system produced an ignition spark by bringing a piece of pyrite into contact with a revolving, spring-powered wheel.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 19, 2026

Electrical equipment, unattended camp fires, cigarette butts and arson have rapidly increased the interval of fire.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026

Listening to “The Boutique,” I feel like I should be smoking a cigarette and drinking the dirtiest martini known to man in a speakeasy, wearing a drop waist silk dress and bright red lipstick.

From Salon • Jun. 5, 2026

Absently and when a subject had so consumed and excited him, he would write with the cigarette and smoke the chalk.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

Related Words

• smoke