hmph.

adv.  perhaps, as in Mr. Maybe: A Novel by Jane Green.


interj.  an expression of disbelief.

<Hmph.  The lies you children tell.  It’s beyond belief.  —Jenny Nimmo, Midnight for Charlie Bone.> <Hmph.  You’re saying there’ll be no birds singing or brooks babbling.’ No music? ... It’s going to be a pretty bleak world, if you ask me.  —Haruki Murakami, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World: A Novel.>

n.  a contemplative mumble, as in The Golden One: A Novel of Suspense by Elizabeth Peters.

<“Hmph.”  Lucas scratched his chin, considering.  —John Sandford, Shadow Prey.> <”Hmph.”  Rinker had to think about it for a minute.  —John Sandford, Certain Prey.>

n.  a dubious response, as in The Master Quilter by Jennifer Chiaverini.


n.  a groan, as when one is experiencing a hangover in the novel The Price You Pay by Ashley McConnell.


n.  a grumbling to oneself, as in the novel Rainbow Six by Tom Clancy; a bad-tempered grunt, as in Mr. Grumpy by Roger Hargreaves.


n.  a grunt implying that someone knew more about a topic at hand than one could guess, as in Inheritance: A Novel by Lan Samantha Chang.


n.  a grunt meaning “don’t mind if I do,” as when one is offered a cigarette in Past Reason Hated: An Inspector Banks Mystery by Peter Robinson.

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