ahem

English

Alternative forms

• ehem

Etymology

Onomatopoeic.

Pronunciation

• [ʔm.ʔmː] with tense voice; also [mˈm̥m] ; also IPA^(key): /əˈhɛm/

• Audio (Southern England):

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• Audio (Southern England):

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• Audio (Southern England):

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• Rhymes: -ɛm

Interjection

ahem

1. (onomatopoeia) The sound of a quiet cough or of clearing one's throat.
2. Demanding attention.

   Ahem! Could we please get started?

   • [1606], No-body, and Some-body. […], [London]: […] [James Roberts] for Iohn Trundle […], signature D2, verso:

     Enter Nobody, and the Clowne. / Nobody. Ahem boy, Nobody is ſound yet for all his troubles.

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.
   1. Indicates subtle sarcasm, polite lying, or euphemism.

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

   2. Indicates an inappropriate pun.
      • 2020 December 15, Jenna M. Wilson, “Fat by Hanne Blank, Bloomsbury Academic, 2020”, in Fat Studies‎^[1], volume 10, number 2, →DOI, pages 205–207:

        The tone of Fat is casual and ahem, digestible, while also providing a succinct and significant overview of fatness and some of the issues most relevant to the burgeoning field of fat studies.

Synonyms

• (exclamation to get attention): See Thesaurus:hey
• (expression of disapproval): See Thesaurus:tut tut

Translations

onomatopoeia

• Czech: ehm
• Finnish: kröhöm (fi)
• Greek: γκουχ (el) (gkouch), γκούχου (el) (gkoúchou)
• Japanese: ゴホン (gohon), コホン (kohon), げほげほ (gehogeho)
• Tagalog: ehem, tikhim
• Vietnamese: e hèm (vi)

exclamation or cough to get attention

• Czech: ehm
• Finnish: kröhöm (fi), öhöm
• Japanese: エヘン (ehen)
• Spanish: ejem
• Tagalog: tikhim
• Vietnamese: e hèm (vi)

exclamation of disapproval or annoyance

• Finnish: öhöm

exclamation to indicate sarcasm

• Finnish: köh (fi), öhöm

Verb

ahem (third-person singular simple present ahems, present participle ahemming, simple past and past participle ahemmed)

1. To cough or clear one's throat so as to draw attention.
   • 1856, Louise Chandler Moulton, Juno Clifford, page 108:

     He wouldn't have been suspected of crying for the world, but he coughed and ahemmed, and finally turned away without speaking.

   • 1858, The Peninsular and Independent Medical Journal, page 153:

     A full inspiration, preparatory to hawking, ahemming, or premeditated careful coughing, would excite an explosion of an unusually violent and persistent cough, hurrying the breath out of the poor victims.

Anagrams

• HEMA, Hema, Mahé, ah me, haem, haem-, hame, heam, hæm-