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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

something.

An uncertain or unspecified thing; one thing.

9 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

pron/ˈsʌm.θɪŋ/[ˈsɐm(p)θɪŋ]Australia, UK[ˈsʌm(p)θɪŋ]US[ˈsʌn̪θɪŋ]US
  1. An uncertain or unspecified thing; one thing.

    indefinite · pronoun
    I must have forgotten to pack something, but I can't think what.
    I have something for you in my bag.
  2. A quality to a moderate degree.

    colloquial · indefinite · pronoun
    The performance was something of a disappointment.
    That child is something of a genius.
  3. A talent or quality that is difficult to specify.

    colloquial · indefinite · pronoun
    She has a certain something.
  4. Somebody who or something that is superlative or notable in some way.

    colloquial · indefinite · often · pronoun
    He's really something! I've never heard such a great voice.
    She's quite something. I can't believe she would do such a mean thing.
Where this word comes from

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”).

adj/ˈsʌm.θɪŋ/[ˈsɐm(p)θɪŋ]Australia, UK[ˈsʌm(p)θɪŋ]US[ˈsʌn̪θɪŋ]US
  1. Having a characteristic that the speaker cannot specify.

    not-comparable
Where this word comes from

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”).

adv/ˈsʌm.θɪŋ/[ˈsɐm(p)θɪŋ]Australia, UK[ˈsʌm(p)θɪŋ]US[ˈsʌn̪θɪŋ]US
  1. Somewhat; to a degree.

    not-comparable
    The baby looks something like his father.
  2. Used to adverbialise a following adjective

    colloquial · especially · not-comparable
Where this word comes from

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”).

verb/ˈsʌm.θɪŋ/[ˈsɐm(p)θɪŋ]Australia, UK[ˈsʌm(p)θɪŋ]US[ˈsʌn̪θɪŋ]US
  1. Designates an action whose name is forgotten by, unknown or unimportant to the user, e.g. from words of a song.

    colloquial
Where this word comes from

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”).

noun/ˈsʌm.θɪŋ/[ˈsɐm(p)θɪŋ]Australia, UK[ˈsʌm(p)θɪŋ]US[ˈsʌn̪θɪŋ]US
  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).

Where this word comes from

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”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.