English Explanatory Dictionary

something

English dictionary entry

Meanings

pron
  1. An uncertain or unspecified thing; one thing.
  2. A quality to a moderate degree.
  3. A talent or quality that is difficult to specify.
  4. Somebody who or something that is superlative or notable in some way.
adj
  1. Having a characteristic that the speaker cannot specify.
adv
  1. Somewhat; to a degree.
  2. Used to adverbialise a following adjective
verb
  1. Designates an action whose name is forgotten by, unknown or unimportant to the user, e.g. from words of a song.
noun
  1. An object whose nature is yet to be defined.
  2. An object whose name is forgotten by, unknown or unimportant to the user, e.g., from words of a song. Also used to refer to an object earlier indefinitely referred to as 'something' (pronoun sense).

Pronunciation

sŭmʹthĭng /ˈsʌm.θɪŋ/ [ˈsɐm̥(p)θɪŋ] LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-something.wav [ˈsʌm̥(p)θɪŋ] [ˈsʌn̪̥θɪŋ] en-us-something.ogg [ˈsɐm̥(p)θəŋ] /ˈsʊm.t̪ɪŋ/ /ˈsʊm.tɪn/

Word forms

something somthing sumthing sumn sumting sumthang sumfink sth sth. sthg smtg smth smtn somethings somethinging somethinged

Etymology

From Middle English somþyng, some-thing, som thing, sum thinge, sum þinge, from Old English sum þing (literally “some thing”), equivalent to some + thing. Compare Old English āwiht (“something”, literally “some thing, any thing”), Swedish någonting (“something”, literally “some thing, any thing”).

Synonyms

sth je ne sais quoi

Related words

anything everything nothing somebody someone -something -somethingth somewhere thing

Derived words

a little of something goes a long way be onto something give someone something to think about leave something to be desired look like something the cat brought in look like something the cat dragged in look like something the cat's dragged in make something of or something something green in one's eye slip into something more comfortable some something or other something and nothing somethingburger something dreadful something else something for the weekend something is better than nothing Somethingism something is rotten in the state of Denmark something is up something like something like that something nasty in the woodshed somethingness something or other something something something tells one somethingth something to write home about tell me something I don't know that is something that's saying something that's something there is something rotten in the state of Denmark there is something to be said for there must be something in the water up to something you can't get something for nothing you don't get something for nothing you know something you learn something new every day something awful something bad something fierce something good something terrible

Translations

Bulgarian: ма́лко Galician: algo German: klein Māori: ngaringari Welsh: tipyn
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