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.

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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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• anticigarette
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• cigarettes
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of cigarette

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

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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

See Examples For:

cigarette cigarettes

He was in his outfit and smoking a cigarette, and she was like, “I think somebody’s on set who shouldn’t be” — because he looked like a local.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

Venus's clouds may behave according to a similar optical principle because their particle size distribution is comparable to that of cigarette smoke.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 13, 2026

In the chapter titled “Cerium,” Levi describes how, wracked with hunger, he stole iron-cerium rods to make flints for cigarette lighters so that he could exchange them for bread.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

Putting out his cigarette before starting the evening service, he sighed: "I think we'll be without water for at least another two months."

From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026

Awkwardly, for she still had her cigarette, she picked up the vase and balanced it on the rim of the basin.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

It wasn’t all that long ago that restaurants and bars around the country were dappled in the glow of cigarettes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026

The illegal production of cigarettes is rising as a whole in the EU, as poor coordination between countries is helping counterfeiters thrive, an official report said on Tuesday.

From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026

The bill targets single-use, battery-embedded electronic cigarettes containing tobacco products.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026

The strategy recalls the successful legal approach states took to rein in tobacco companies over health issues linked to cigarettes.

From Slate ● Aug. 26, 2026

I don’t smoke cigarettes and I don’t drink.

From "Life Is So Good" by George Dawson

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Related Words

• smoke

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