hmmmph.

interj.  a suspicious sigh, as in the novel The Venetian Policeman by M.E. Rabb.


n.  a disdainful harrumph.

<“Hmmmph,” said Fra Ludovico.  “I’ve never been persuaded you had much of a soul.  More like a little damp anchovy stuck between your breasts, trying to breathe.  That’s what you smell like, anyway.”  —Gregory Maguire, Mirror Mirror: A Novel.> <Hmmmph.  What are you going to do—threaten me with an egg whisk?  —Deborah Smith, Caught by Surprise.>

n.  a grumble of disapproval, as in the novel Fanny: Being the True History of the Adventures of Fanny Hackabout-Jones by Erica Jong.


n.  a grunt of pain, as in The Lies We Believe by Chris Thurman.


n.  a laugh to oneself, as in Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now by Barry Miles.


n.  a mumble of disappointment, as in Power With Nature: Solar and Wind Energy Demystified by Rex Ewing.


n.  a muttering during a religious sermon, as in the novel The Recognitions by William Gaddis; see also hmmm.


n.  a response “in the nature of a belch” yet also sounding “like a bit of a cough” (Bruce Alexander, The Color of Death).


n.  a snort of dismissal, as in the novel Mount Dragon by Douglas Preston.

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