harrumph

har·rumph

H h

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [huh-ruhmf]
- /həˈrʌmf/
- /hˈarʌmf/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [huh-ruhmf]
- /həˈrʌmf/

Definitions of harrumph word

verb without object harrumph to clear the throat audibly in a self-important manner: The professor harrumphed good-naturedly. 1
verb without object harrumph to express oneself gruffly. 1
noun harrumph Clear the throat noisily. 1
verb harrumph to clear or make the noise of clearing the throat 0
intransitive verb harrumph to clear one's throat, esp. in a studied, pompous way 0
intransitive verb harrumph to protest or complain in a pompous or self-righteous way 0

See all 11 definitions of harrumph

Information block about the term

Origin of harrumph

First appearance:

before 1935

One of the 8% newest English words

First recorded in 1935-40; imitative

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Harrumph

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Harrumph

harrumph popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 59% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

According to our data about 52% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

harrumph usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer