sir

noun \ ˈsər \

1 a : a man entitled to be addressed as sir —used as a title before the given name of a knight or baronet and formerly sometimes before the given name of a priest

b : a man of rank or position

2 a —used as a usually respectful form of address

b capitalized —used as a conventional form of address in the salutation of a letter

See sir defined for English-language learners

See sir defined for kids

Recent Examples of sir from the Web

My romantic sense of the world is strong, yes sir, but it’s no longer tethered to some external source.

— heather havrilesky, The Cut, "‘My Ex Ruined My Whole College Experience!’," 30 Aug. 2017
MANCHIN: To the best of your knowledge, sir, did any of these following individuals meet with Russian officials at any point during the campaign.

— tina nguyen, vanityfair.com, "Does Jeff Sessions Have a Memory Problem?," 13 June 2017
But these are not ordinary times, and you, sir, are anything but an ordinary man.

— oliver gettell, EW.com, "Carl Reiner urges Anthony Kennedy not to retire from Supreme Court," 7 July 2017
Good day sir-- Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) June 26, 2017 Williams' 23 singles and 14 doubles Grand Slam titles are record-breaking; the nearest male tennis player in Grand Slam wins is Roger Federer, with 18 Slams in singles competition.

— cheryl wray, AL.com, "Serena Williams responds to John McEnroe's statement that she'd be 'like No. 700' in men's tennis," 26 June 2017
Good day sir— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) June 26, 2017 While McEnroe did praise Serena, the qualifier of the compliment along with a pointless hypothetical scenario appeared to grab Williams' attention.

— andrew joseph, USA TODAY, "Serena Williams hits back at John McEnroe," 26 June 2017
Senator King, as always sir, thank you for coming on and sharing your views.

— NBC News, "Meet the Press - June 18, 2017," 18 June 2017
On one of these plays, J. R. Smith stepped out of the way, as if to say, go right ahead, sir, enjoy yourself.

— harvey araton, New York Times, "Switching, Swarming and Suffocating: Warriors Defense Dominates," 2 June 2017
It’s also possible SIR-Spheres may help patients with a form of cancer that starts in the bile duct, for whom there is a dearth of effective treatments, said UBS’s Goodsall, who rates Sirtex a buy.

— matthew burgess, Bloomberg.com, "Australia's Second Worst-Performing Stock May Have a Silver Lining," 1 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sir.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of sir

Middle English, from sire

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 13th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

SIR Defined for English Language Learners

sir

noun

—used without a name as a form of polite address to a man of rank or authority (such as a military or police officer, teacher, or master)
Sir —used without a name as a form of address at the beginning of a formal letter
Sir —used as a title before the name of a knight or baronet