um
/ʌm/interjection, verb, noun, particle
um is spelled U-M: 2 letters and one syllable. It appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,778th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “uhm vs um” about 40 times a month (Google, United States). As an interjection, um means “Expression of hesitation, uncertainty or space filler in conversation” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in um?
| Letters | 2: U-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 13 times per million words; the 5,778th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is um?
Um appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,778th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce um?
- /ʌm/
Um has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-um.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame--um.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame--um.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with um
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of um
- ums present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- umming participle, present
- ummed participle, past
- ahm
- ehm
- em
- erm
- hum
- uhm
- umm
- umbe-
- umb-
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does um mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
interjection
- 1
Expression of hesitation, uncertainty or space filler in conversation.
Um, I don’t know.
- 2
USDated spelling of mmm.
- 3
An expression to forcefully call attention to something wrong.
Um, excuse me!
- 4
An expression of shocked disapproval used by a child who witnesses forbidden behavior.
verb
- 1
To make the um sound to express uncertainty or hesitancy.
noun
- 1
An occurrence of the interjection "um".
noun
- 1
Initialism of unmounted mint.
particle
- 1
datedoffensiveAn undifferentiated determiner or article; a miscellaneous linking word, or filler with nonspecific meaning; representation of broken English stereotypically or comically attributed to Native Americans.
Me be Injun. Him um Growling Bear. Him um heap big chief.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Um in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Latinate singular grammatical number suffix:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does um come from?
Onomatopoeic.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).