as in numbness
a lack of emotion or emotional expressiveness
a man of remarkable phlegm, never showing enthusiasm nor displeasure
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of phlegm
With just enough codeine to wash the phlegm away, Veeze folds slapstick one-liners into audacious flexes like origami.
—
Pitchfork, 30 Sep. 2025
The second is having either 10 or more pack years of smoking, or symptoms of cough, phlegm and trouble breathing.
—Katia Hetter, CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2025
Diagnosis of Legionnaires’ disease is made via chest X-ray, urine test and lab analysis of a phlegm sample.
—Melissa Rudy, FOXNews.com, 20 Aug. 2025
How brown phlegm looks can vary from person to person.
—Mark Gurarie, Health, 15 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for phlegm
Pitchfork, 30 Sep. 2025
The second is having either 10 or more pack years of smoking, or symptoms of cough, phlegm and trouble breathing.
—Katia Hetter, CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2025
Diagnosis of Legionnaires’ disease is made via chest X-ray, urine test and lab analysis of a phlegm sample.
—Melissa Rudy, FOXNews.com, 20 Aug. 2025
How brown phlegm looks can vary from person to person.
—Mark Gurarie, Health, 15 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for phlegm
Recent Examples of Synonyms for phlegm
Noun
-
One assumes his numbness will eventually disappear.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Jan. 2026
-
People may not notice frostbite developing because numbness often comes before pain.—
Katia Hetter,
CNN Money,
26 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Kerr and several staffers compared the emptiness around downtown, coupled with the frigid temperatures outside, to feelings that existed during COVID.—
Nick Friedell,
New York Times,
27 Jan. 2026
-
Many roads in Austin remained icy on Monday morning and many coffee shops and restaurants echoed the emptiness on the streets with their own temporary closures.—
Matthew Odam,
Austin American Statesman,
26 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Ideal snowmaking conditions today require a dewpoint temperature – the combination of coldness and humidity – of around 28 F (-2 C) or less.—
Sunshine Swetnam,
The Conversation,
3 Feb. 2026
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This character often keeps her feelings to herself, not out of coldness but from a fear of becoming a burden to others.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
3 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
And a habit of dismissing frustration as apathy rather than recognizing it as exhaustion.—
Christopher Bellingham,
The Orlando Sentinel,
6 Feb. 2026
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There was next to no football booster funding for NIL, and apathy among fans and low ticket sales haven’t helped.—
Stewart Mandel,
New York Times,
4 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Phlegm.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/phlegm. Accessed 8 Feb. 2026.
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