as in huffed
to take in and let out a deep audible breath or to make a similar sound
Mom always used to sigh loudly whenever she found a mess on the floor—which was often a breeze sighed through the leaves
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Recent Examples of sighed
My mother sighed remembering, a faint smile painting her lips.
—
Literary Hub, 3 June 2026
Seeing her dad’s handwriting, Lally sighed.
—Tess Kenny, Chicago Tribune, 28 Apr. 2026
The Renaissance master, whose name is only ever sighed in the same breath as Leonardo and Michelangelo, supposedly traded truth for beauty, and ended up destroying both.
—Zachary Fine, New Yorker, 20 Apr. 2026
Johnson sighed and rubbed a hand over her head in relief.
—Andrew Greif, NBC news, 10 Feb. 2026
Dejan Furtula sighed with despair while looking at construction machines working around the clock to remove tons of trash clogging the Drina River near his hometown of Visegrad, in eastern Bosnia.
—Eldar Emric, Los Angeles Times, 5 Feb. 2026
That the trio’s affection often expresses itself in frustrated shouts, sighed exasperation or muted defeat, has become part of the bargain for 38-year-old Anna, who takes care of and is cared for by her parents (Victor Slezak as Dad and Marceline Hugot as Mom).
—Lisa Kennedy, Variety, 31 Jan. 2026
The officer whose bodycam recorded the shooting audibly sighed after the gunshot.
—Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 26 Jan. 2026
Yet in some corners of the Internet, Fuentes is as sighed over as Timothée Chalamet.
—Maggie Turner, Air Mail, 17 Jan. 2026
Literary Hub, 3 June 2026
Seeing her dad’s handwriting, Lally sighed.
—Tess Kenny, Chicago Tribune, 28 Apr. 2026
The Renaissance master, whose name is only ever sighed in the same breath as Leonardo and Michelangelo, supposedly traded truth for beauty, and ended up destroying both.
—Zachary Fine, New Yorker, 20 Apr. 2026
Johnson sighed and rubbed a hand over her head in relief.
—Andrew Greif, NBC news, 10 Feb. 2026
Dejan Furtula sighed with despair while looking at construction machines working around the clock to remove tons of trash clogging the Drina River near his hometown of Visegrad, in eastern Bosnia.
—Eldar Emric, Los Angeles Times, 5 Feb. 2026
That the trio’s affection often expresses itself in frustrated shouts, sighed exasperation or muted defeat, has become part of the bargain for 38-year-old Anna, who takes care of and is cared for by her parents (Victor Slezak as Dad and Marceline Hugot as Mom).
—Lisa Kennedy, Variety, 31 Jan. 2026
The officer whose bodycam recorded the shooting audibly sighed after the gunshot.
—Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 26 Jan. 2026
Yet in some corners of the Internet, Fuentes is as sighed over as Timothée Chalamet.
—Maggie Turner, Air Mail, 17 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sighed
Verb
-
Difluoroethane is a gas often used in cans of compressed air, which can be huffed to produce a high, while alprazolam is the generic form of brand-name Xanax.—
Charlotte Phillipp,
PEOPLE,
14 May 2026
-
Isaac Hayden huffed and puffed but received little support from Blackpool’s Karoy Anderson.—
Jack Lang,
New York Times,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
As seen in footage shared to X and credited to Danish outlet Billed Bladet, the Queen gasped when her son headed in her direction.—
Janine Henni,
PEOPLE,
11 June 2026
-
Just then, Chinouriri gasped as Slayyyter started playing in the distance, and was back to dancing in her seat.—
Leigh Nordstrom,
Footwear News,
9 June 2026
Verb
-
The 18-year-old Senegal forward had just breathed competitive tension into this World Cup game, reducing the French advantage to 2-1 in second-half stoppage time, only for one devastating swish of Kylian Mbappe’s right foot to decide the outcome once and for all.—
Adam Crafton,
New York Times,
16 June 2026
-
That was when microbes wrested energy from light and, in the process, breathed new life into the world.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
10 June 2026
Verb
-
On land, cadaver dogs sniffed the shore for any trace of Lynette.—
Rebekah Riess,
CNN Money,
6 June 2026
-
Deputies once again conducted a traffic stop, and a police dog sniffed out illicit substances.—
Clara Harter,
Los Angeles Times,
2 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sighed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sighed. Accessed 24 Jun. 2026.
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