sigh
sigh Lexical Profile
sigh Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A long, deep, audible exhalation expressing sadness, relief, tiredness, or longing.
"She let out a deep sigh of relief when she saw that her keys were still on the table."
A soft, murmuring, or rustling sound resembling a deep breath, especially one made by the wind.
"They sat on the porch listening to the gentle sigh of the evening breeze through the pine trees."
• verb
To emit a long, deep, audible breath expressing sadness, relief, tiredness, or a similar feeling.
"He sighed heavily as he looked at the stack of ungraded papers on his desk."
To utter or express something with a long, audible breath.
""I wish the weekend were longer," she sighed as she packed her briefcase."
To make a soft, murmuring sound resembling a human sigh (especially of the wind or trees).
"The autumn wind sighed softly through the dry reeds along the riverbank."
To yearn or long mournfully for someone or something (usually followed by 'for').
"In his letters, the poet often sighed for the quiet simplicity of his childhood home."
• interjection
Used primarily in informal writing to represent the sound of a sigh or to express mild exasperation, resignation, weariness, or disappointment.
"Sigh, I suppose I will have to redo the entire spreadsheet from scratch."
• Rhymes for sigh
Word Origin & Etymology
From Middle English sighen, a back-formation from the past tense sihte of Old English sican ('to sigh'), which is of imitative origin representing the sound of a deep breath.