sigh

sigh — verb

1. to slowly release a long breath that makes a soft noise, often revealing your em

1.verbintransitiveB1
Definition

to slowly release a long breath that makes a soft noise, often revealing your emotional state such as tiredness, sadness, relief, or pleasure

Example

Adina sighed with relief when she heard the exam results.

sigh + with + [emotion]

Daichi sighed heavily and put down the heavy suitcase.

sigh + heavily

Common collocations
  • sigh with relief
  • sigh deeply
  • sigh heavily
  • sigh + speech
Synonyms
  • groan

    a deeper, longer sound expressing pain or complaint rather than tiredness or relief

  • exhale

    purely physical act of breathing out, without emotional meaning

  • breathe out

    neutral and descriptive, lacking the emotional quality of sighing

Antonyms
  • gasp

    a sudden sharp intake of breath rather than a slow release

  • hold one's breath

    the opposite action — keeping air in rather than letting it out

Grammar Patterns

sigh + with [emotion]

sigh + [quoted speech]

sigh + heavily / deeply

Usage Note

Frequently used with a quoted statement showing the speaker's emotion: 'I suppose I have no choice,' she sighed. The emotion itself is usually indicated by context rather than by the verb alone.

Common Mistakes

She breathed when she opened the letter.
She sighed when she opened the letter.
'breathe' is a neutral physical act; 'sigh' shows an emotional reaction through breath.
He sighed out the bad news.
He sighed and told us the bad news.
'sigh' is not a transitive verb and cannot take a direct object in most contexts.

2. when moving air such as the wind makes a soft, gentle noise that resembles a per

2.verbintransitiveB2
Definition

when moving air such as the wind makes a soft, gentle noise that resembles a person sighing — for instance, as it passes through leaves or around buildings

Example

The wind sighed through the pine trees all night long.

sigh + through [place]

A cold breeze sighed softly around the old castle walls.

Common collocations
  • wind sighs through
  • breeze sighs around
  • sigh among (trees/leaves)
Synonyms
  • whisper

    focuses on the soft, secret-like quality of the sound

  • moan

    a deeper, sadder sound, often used for wind in more dramatic writing

  • rustle

    describes a light, crackling sound made by leaves or paper rather than a sustained breath-like sound

Grammar Patterns

wind/breeze + sigh + through/around [place]

Usage Note

Only used of wind, breeze, or moving air in literary or descriptive writing. Not used for mechanical or artificial sounds, even if they resemble a sigh.

sigh — noun

Word family

  • sighing
    nounB2
  • sighing
    adjectiveB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

Sigh, groan, exhale, and gasp are all ways of moving air through the mouth or nose, but each expresses a different state. A sigh is a slow, audible release of breath that shows tiredness, relief, sadness, or contentment. A groan is a deeper, longer sound that typically expresses pain, discomfort, or complaint — you groan when something feels bad, not when you are relieved. Exhale is a neutral physical term for breathing out; it carries no emotional meaning and is used in medical or fitness contexts. A gasp, unlike the others, is a sudden, sharp intake of air through the mouth, showing shock, surprise, or difficulty breathing. To see the difference: 'She sighed with relief when the plane landed' (tension released); 'She groaned when she saw the long queue' (frustration); 'She exhaled slowly in yoga class' (neutral physical action); 'She gasped when she saw the spider' (sudden fear).

sigh ↗groanexhalegasp ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Prepositions

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

The word 'sigh' comes from Middle English 'sighen,' which developed from Old English 'sīcan.' Like many words for sounds (buzz, hiss, whisper), it is thought to be imitative in origin — the word itself sounds similar to the slow release of breath it describes. Related words exist in other Germanic languages, such as Old High German 'sīftōn.'