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hmm

British

/ mm /

interjection

a sound made when considering or puzzling over something

"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

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.

“I was reading the Bible the other day, and there were em dashes in the book of James, and I was like, hmm, is this AI-generated?,”

From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026

"I think about God and about fate. My fate is… hmm… I don't know," he said, explaining that he sometimes pictured himself after the war was over.

From BBC • Feb. 23, 2024

In Mozambique, Yao honey-hunters do so with a trilled "Brr! ..." followed by a guttural " ... hmm!"

From Science Daily • Dec. 7, 2023

"Please know that I am rooting for you, hmm?" the Baron tells Guillermo.

From Salon • Aug. 25, 2023

Then he says, “Hmm, hmm, hmm. Maybe I will make up a new song.”

From "A Rover's Story" by Jasmine Warga

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023