as in numbness
a lack of emotion or emotional expressiveness
a man of remarkable phlegm, never showing enthusiasm nor displeasure
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Recent Examples of phlegm
Symptoms may include: irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat; coughing; phlegm; chest tightness; and shortness of breath.
—
Amanda Greenwood, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Dec. 2025
Those sacs of air fill with fluid or pus, causing a cough with phlegm or pus, fever, chills and trouble breathing, according to the clinic.
—Rebecca Cohen, NBC news, 16 Oct. 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
See All Example Sentences for phlegm
Amanda Greenwood, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Dec. 2025
Those sacs of air fill with fluid or pus, causing a cough with phlegm or pus, fever, chills and trouble breathing, according to the clinic.
—Rebecca Cohen, NBC news, 16 Oct. 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
See All Example Sentences for phlegm
Recent Examples of Synonyms for phlegm
Noun
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Signs of a stroke can be identified by sudden numbness or weakness in the face, arm, or leg; sudden confusion, trouble speaking, or difficulty understanding speech; issues with eyesight; loss of balance, dizziness, and difficulty walking; and severe headache with no identifiable cause.—
KiMi Robinson,
USA Today,
14 Apr. 2026
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In sticking through these 30 minutes, numbness begins to feel aspirational.—
Joshua Minsoo Kim,
Pitchfork,
13 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Inner emptiness has always been a fixation of Ye.—
Kieran Press-Reynolds,
Pitchfork,
1 Apr. 2026
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While fans would have surely loved to get any of these songs over the past five years in lieu of the chaos of 2020s-era Ye, there’s still an emptiness at the heart of Bully.—
Jeff Ihaza,
Rolling Stone,
31 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The coldness of the water constricts arteries, requiring the heart to work harder than normal to function.—
Saleen Martin,
USA Today,
14 Apr. 2026
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The song has said everything that Ines can’t bring herself to, and her coldness chips away in the days and weeks that follow.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
20 Mar. 2026
Noun
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He was supposed to be the antidote to the apathy.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
17 Apr. 2026
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The growing apathy toward big-screen entertainment was also owed to the patina of all-American wholesomeness that studios imposed on their stables of stars, and the nothing-to-see-here style of movie journalism was wearing thin.—
Joshua John Miller,
Vanity Fair,
9 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Phlegm.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/phlegm. Accessed 20 Apr. 2026.
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