harrumph
Americanverb (used without object)
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to clear the throat audibly in a self-important manner.
The professor harrumphed good-naturedly.
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to express oneself gruffly.
verb
Etymology
Origin of harrumph
First recorded in 1935–40; imitative
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.
"Trousers," exclaims the Prince Andrew character, with a fruity harrumph, as though taken aback by a female interviewer wearing trousers.
From BBC ● Apr. 5, 2024
You’ve got to work Black Friday and Cyber Monday, harrumph.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 22, 2018
More stingily, you could turn to Fran Lebowitz’s first essay collection, “Metropolitan Life,” which includes a three-paragraph harrumph titled “Clothes with Pictures and/or Writing on Them: Yes—Another Complaint.”
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 21, 2018
Huzzah because Doyle is great; harrumph because if a writer is going to put on Stevenson’s voice, he’d better, as the poets say, “bring it.”
From Washington Post ● Mar. 30, 2017
Natalie made a sound that was halfway between a snort and a harrumph.
From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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.
