cigarette

American  

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

Or cigaret

noun

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

• anticigarette adjective

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

There’s no casino floor to walk through and no lingering cigarette smoke.

From Salon • Mar. 7, 2026

Clad in a black leather trench coat, the 42-year-old dictator twirled a cigarette as he reviewed lines of factory employees.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026

As it returns to the screen, younger viewers may glimpse another era - flared trousers, drafting tables, cigarette smoke curling under fluorescent lights.

From BBC • Feb. 13, 2026

Watts, working through an eternal haze of cigarette smoke, gives as fine a performance as the nagging-mother material allows.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 13, 2026

And, of course, he was smoking a candy cigarette.

From "The Season of Styx Malone" by Kekla Magoon

Related Words

• smoke