Meaning

5 senses

  1. (onomatopoeic)The sound of a quiet cough or of clearing one's throat.

  2. Demanding attention.

    Ahem! Could we please get started?

  3. Expresses disapproval or annoyance.

    Ahem! In case you didn't notice, I did my share of the work, too.

  4. Indicates the speaker does not wish to be perceived as rude, often intimating an impolite meaning to a third party that the speaker is not addressing.

    Indicates subtle sarcasm, polite lying, or euphemism.

    I really (ahem!) liked the chocolate broccoli surprise.

  5. Indicates an unintentional or inappropriate pun.

Translations

1 languages

Forms

Synonyms

2 synonyms
exclamation to get attention:heyA2
expression of disapproval:tut tut

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
ahahaaheadA2aholdaidB1

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

ahem — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto