middle finger
Americannoun
-
middle fingers
plural
-
the finger between the forefinger and the third finger.
-
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.
Those responses included pressing a button using either the index or middle finger on either hand.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026
Secular Israelis were prepared with a counter-protest, blowing whistles to drown out the chants and with some wearing pink lapel buttons showing a middle finger.
From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026
The official Telegram account on X posted a photo Wednesday morning of Durov giving the middle finger over a heaping plate of pickles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Slate music critic Carl Wilson argues that the singer’s new album is a middle finger to the expectations of being an “It Girl.”
From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026
On the middle finger, the grey had crept up past the second knuckle.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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.
