say
verb (used with object)
to utter or pronounce; speak.
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to say.
say
1 American
[sey]
/ seɪ /
verb (used with object)
said,
saying
-
to utter or pronounce; speak.
What did you say? I said “Hello!”
-
to express in words; state; declare; word.
Say it clearly and simply. It's hard to know how to say this tactfully.
-
to state as an opinion or judgment.
I say her plan is the better one.
-
to be certain, precise, or assured about; determine.
It is hard to say what is wrong.
-
to recite or repeat.
to say one's prayers.
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to report or allege; maintain.
People say he will resign.
-
to express (a message, viewpoint, etc.), as through a literary or other artistic medium.
a writer with something to say.
-
to indicate or show.
What does your watch say?
-
to assume as a hypothesis or estimate.
Let's say, for the sake of argument, that it's true.
verb (used without object)
said,
saying
adverb
-
It's, say, 14 feet long.
-
for example.
If you serve, say tuna fish and potato chips, it will cost much less.
noun
-
what a person says or has to say.
-
the right or opportunity to speak, decide, or exercise influence.
to have one's say in choosing the candidate.
-
a turn to say something.
It is now my say.
interjection
idioms
say
2
American
[sey]
/ seɪ /
verb (used with object)
say
3
American
[sey]
/ seɪ /
noun
Say
4
American
[sey]
/ seɪ /
noun
-
Jean Baptiste 1767–1832, French economist.
-
Thomas, 1787–1834, U.S. entomologist.
say
1
British
/ seɪ /
verb
-
to speak, pronounce, or utter
-
(also intr) to express (an idea) in words; tell
we asked his opinion but he refused to say
-
(also intr; may take a clause as object) to state (an opinion, fact, etc) positively; declare; affirm
-
to recite
to say grace
-
(may take a clause as object) to report or allege
they say we shall have rain today
-
(may take a clause as object) to take as an assumption; suppose
let us say that he is lying
-
(may take a clause as object) to convey by means of artistic expression
the artist in this painting is saying that we should look for hope
-
to make a case for
there is much to be said for either course of action
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(usually passive) to persuade or coax (someone) to do something
If I hadn't been said by her, I wouldn't be in this fix
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to be so obvious as to need no explanation
-
informal an exclamation of surprise
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even; and indeed
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in other words; more explicitly
-
as well as; even disregarding
he was warmly dressed in a shirt and heavy jumper, to say nothing of a thick overcoat
-
without the slightest exaggeration; at the very least
adverb
-
approximately
there were, say, 20 people present
-
for example
choose a number, say, four
noun
-
the right or chance to speak
let him have his say
-
authority, esp to influence a decision
he has a lot of say in the company's policy
-
a statement of opinion
you've had your say, now let me have mine
interjection
say
2
British
/ seɪ /
noun
say
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of say1
First recorded before 900; Middle English seyen, seggen, Old English secgan; cognate with Dutch zeggen, German sagen, Old Norse segja; akin to saw 3
Origin of say2
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English saien, sayen, shortening of assaien, assayen to assay
Origin of say3
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English sai(e), a kind of serge, from Old French saie, saye “long-skirted coat,” from Medieval Latin saia, sagum, a kind of cloth, from Latin saga, plural of sagum “coarse woolen cloak, soldier's cloak,” from Gaulish sogom
Explanation
To have your say means to get an opportunity to deliver your opinion on something. If you're at a loud and hostile town council meeting, you might not get a chance to have your say unless you shout it. Say means to speak, so any time you utter a word, you're saying it. If you write an editorial about dogs in the paper, that's also a form of saying. Someone could quote you as saying "dogs should be worshipped." You can say something with your body language, too. Like most common words, say is very old, coming from the Old English sęcgan, meaning "to tell."
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.
See Examples For:
That’s going to be ready to go live, I would say maybe in another month.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
“What I would say to those people: If you’re building Frankenstein, stop. If the cat is out of the bag, then build the defensive mechanism against Frankenstein.”
From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026
On a chilly day in March, a twice-deported Romanian national walked into a 7-Eleven in Toledo, Ohio, and secretly affixed a device called a skimmer to a credit card machine, prosecutors say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
Neither Cooper-Lesadd nor Plaid will say how or when the talks over the defection began, only that the process had gone on for "a while" and she had been on a "journey".
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
No one can say why, but now Phineas's seizures grow more violent and more frequent.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
Say, fellas, look, we’re all friends here, amirite?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
Say you have a Maria Lopez who came to the U.S.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
August alone saw two other films of varying quality, “The Last House” and “Don’t Say Good Luck,” all but dumped onto the platform with relatively little to no fanfare.
From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026
Say something like, “Let’s grab drinks around 8:30 p.m. I want to cook myself dinner before our fun night out.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026
“And I see Steve saying over and over, Say that again. Say that again.”
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
“I try to bring the energy,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
“He taught me that I made the right decision and it was best for the team and in the long run best for him,” White said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
“Some don’t have a stable household,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
He said, ‘Today I woke up and it’s a new day.’
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
"Lions, a couple of puny lions should scare me, eh?" he said.
From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios
He looked sideways at CEOs’ request for industry regulation, saying that the move might be a “Trojan Horse” masking their true intentions.
From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026
“I guess … I have a tougher head. So then he started complaining and all that. He was saying, ‘You headbutted me, you’re cheating.’
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
Armstrong signed off on it, with the company saying it was a significant concession.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
"It's not every day you get gaslit by the King," is the headline of the Mail on Sunday after Buckingham Palace released a statement saying that fraternal grief could "colour memory".
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
With an effort, Torak forced his mind to what she was saying.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
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.
