View synonyms for he

he

[hee, ee]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

pronoun

nominative

he ,

possessive

his ,

objective

him ,

plural-nominative

they ,

possessive

their, theirs ,

objective

them .

the male person or animal being discussed or last mentioned; that male.
anyone (without reference to gender); that person.
He who hesitates is lost.

noun

plural

hes

any male person or animal; a man.
hes and shes.

adjective

male (usually used in combination).
a he-goat.

Or heh

[hey]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

the fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
any of the sounds represented by this letter.

Symbol, Chemistry.

helium.

⁴

Or H.E.

high explosive.

H.E.

⁵

abbreviation

high explosive. Also HE
His Eminence.
His Excellency; Her Excellency.

/ iː, hiː /

pronoun

refers to a male person or animal
he looks interesting
he's a fine stallion
refers to an indefinite antecedent such as one, whoever, or anybody
everybody can do as he likes in this country
refers to a person or animal of unknown or unspecified sex
a member of the party may vote as he sees fit

noun

1. a male person or animal
2. ( in combination )
  he-goat
1. a children's game in which one player chases the others in an attempt to touch one of them, who then becomes the chaser Compare tag 2
2. the person chasing Compare it 1

abbreviation

high explosive
His Eminence
His ( or Her) Excellency

symbol

helium

⁴

/ he, heɪ /

noun

the fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet (ה), transliterated as h

⁵

/ hiː, heɪ /

interjection

Also: he-he!. hee-hee!. an expression of amusement or derision

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Grammar Note

Traditionally, the masculine singular pronouns he, his, and him have been used generically to refer to indefinite pronouns like anyone, everyone, and someone ( Everyone who agrees should raise his right hand ) and to singular nouns that can be applied to either gender ( painter, parent, person, teacher, writer, etc.): Every writer knows that his first book is not likely to be a bestseller. This generic use is often criticized as sexist, although many speakers and writers continue the practice. Those who object to the generic use of he have developed various ways of avoiding it. One is to use he/she or she/he (or he or she or she or he ) or the appropriate case forms of these pairs: Everyone who agrees should raise his or her (or her or his or his/her or her/his ) right hand. Forms blending the feminine and masculine pronouns, as s/he, have not been widely adopted, probably because of confusion over how to say them. Another solution is to change the antecedent pronoun or noun from singular to plural so that the plural pronouns they, their, and them can be used: All who agree should raise their right hands. All writers know that their first books are not likely to be bestsellers. See also they .

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Word History and Origins

Origin of he¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English hē; cognate with Dutch hij, Old Saxon hē, Old High German her; her , here ( def. ), it ¹

Origin of he²

From Hebrew hē; cognate with Arabic hāʾ hā ( def. )

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Word History and Origins

Origin of he¹

Old English hē; related to Old Saxon hie, Old High German her he, Old Slavonic sĭ this, Latin cis on this side

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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.

Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann says Northern Ireland have a "special way" of playing and he did not mean any offence with his comments after his side's 3-1 win in Cologne last month.

Related Words

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it
she
sie www.thesaurus.com
they
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you
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hdwd head

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