something

[ suhm-thing ]
See synonyms for something on Thesaurus.com
pronoun
  1. some thing; a certain undetermined or unspecified thing: Something is wrong there.Something's happening.

  2. an additional amount, as of cents or minutes, that is unknown, unspecified, or forgotten: He charged me ten something for the hat.Our train gets in at two something.

noun
  1. Informal. a person or thing of some value or consequence: He is really something!This writer has something to say and she says it well.

adverb
  1. in some degree; to some extent; somewhat.

  2. Informal. to a high or extreme degree; quite: He took on something fierce about my tardiness.

Origin of something

1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English, Old English sum thing; see some, thing1

Words Nearby something

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use something in a sentence

  • He remembered something—the cherished pose of being a man plunged fathoms-deep in business.

    St. Martin's Summer | Rafael Sabatini
  • There seems something in that also which I could spare only very reluctantly from a new Bible in the world.

    The Salvaging Of Civilisation | H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
  • There is, perhaps, in this childish suffering often something more than the sense of being homeless and outcast.

    Children's Ways | James Sully
  • The beauty, the mystery,—this fierce sunshine or something—stir——' She hesitated for a fraction of a second.

    The Wave | Algernon Blackwood
  • And furthermore, I imagine something else about this—quite unlike the old Bible—I imagine all of it periodically revised.

    The Salvaging Of Civilisation | H. G. (Herbert George) Wells

British Dictionary definitions for something (1 of 2)

something

/ (ˈsʌmθɪŋ) /


pronoun
  1. an unspecified or unknown thing; some thing: he knows something you don't; take something warm with you

  2. an unspecified or unknown amount; bit: something less than a hundred

  1. an impressive or important person, thing, or event: isn't that something?

  2. something else a remarkable person or thing

  3. something or other one unspecified thing or an alternative thing

adverb
  1. to some degree; a little; somewhat: to look something like me

  2. (foll by an adjective) informal (intensifier): it hurts something awful

British Dictionary definitions for -something (2 of 2)

-something

n combining form
    • a person whose age can be approximately expressed by a specified decade

    • (as modifier): the thirtysomething market

Origin of -something

2
C20: from the US television series thirtysomething

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with something

something

In addition to the idioms beginning with something

  • something else
  • something else again
  • something in the wind
  • something like
  • something of a
  • something or other
  • something tells me
  • something thing, a

also see:

  • buy something
  • get (have) something on someone
  • get something straight
  • have something against
  • hold something against
  • hold (something) over
  • look like something the cat dragged in
  • make something of
  • not put something past one
  • on the ball, have something
  • (something) or other
  • pull something on
  • start something
  • take something
  • you know something

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.