middle finger
Americannoun
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the finger between the forefinger and the third finger.
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Slang. an obscene gesture of contempt made by pointing this finger upward while folding the other fingers against the palm; the finger.
The driver honked his horn and got the middle finger from the biker.
Usage
What else does middle finger mean? Giving someone the middle finger is an offensive gesture in which a person flips up their middle finger in a fist to show contempt or defiance.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of middle finger
First recorded before 1000; Middle English, Old English
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.
Mid-vows, “Madonna jabbed her middle finger upward,” J. Randy Taraborrelli wrote in “Madonna: An Intimate Biography.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 28, 2026
Ohtani has been dealing with a small blister on the middle finger of his right hand for his last couple starts, Roberts said.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026
Shortly afterwards MacIntyre, who declined to speak to the media, posted a picture on his Instagram account of a gnome resembling himself with an extended middle finger.
From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026
As my bare right hand moved to protect the ball when it entered my glove, it suddenly bounced up sharply and hit the tip of my right hand’s middle finger.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026
The sound produced by this method was faint but unmistakable: each time the pad of her middle finger slipped across the nail of her index, there was a fleshy click.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
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.
