something

CEFRA1

/ˈsʌm.θɪŋ/

pronoun · adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

01
pronoun
An unspecified thing or matter.
02
pronoun
Extra detail
A quality to a moderate degree.

Examples

It would be something I'd have to program.
Whenever I find something I like, it's too expensive.

At a glance

Sits at A1 on the CEFR scale

Senses: 5
Parts of speech: 2
Citations: 5
Synonyms: 1

Also pronounced

[ˈsɐm(p)θɪŋ]
[ˈsʌn̪θɪŋ]

Deep Dive

pronoun

Extra meanings

A talent or quality that is difficult to specify.
An uncertain or unspecified thing; one thing.

adjective

Extra meaning

Having a characteristic that the speaker cannot specify.

More examples

In context

We stopped for something to eat.
I have a feeling something good is going to happen today.
I have something for you in my bag.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

I need blank to eat because I haven't had food all day.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Citations

The word in print, with each source given in full.

Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic who still resists the idea that something drastic needs to happen for him to turn his life around.
2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21
Yea, ’t is true; I ’d know thee by thine eyen, that are gray, and thoughtful, and dark with a something that lies behind the colour of them,—and shining by the light of a lamp lit somewhere within.
1903, Florence Converse, Long Will: A Romance, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company; Cambridge, Mass.: The Riverside Press, page 138
From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much.[…] But viewed from high up in one of the growing number of skyscrapers in Sri Lanka’s capital, it is clear that something extraordinary is happening: China is creating a shipping hub just 200 miles from India’s southern tip.
2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52
"Very poetic." They came to a halt before the outer door. "It's very something," Rusty said wistfully. "How do you do it?"
1986, Marie Nicole, Foxy Lady, →ISBN, page 20
"It's very — it's very something," said Lucy. "It's a kind of love-letter, isn't it?"
1988, Colleen Klein, A Space for Delight, page 200

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Origin

pronoun

From Middle English somþyng, some-thing, som thing, sum thinge, sum þinge, from Old English sum þing (literally “some thing”), equivalent to some + thing. Compare Old English āwiht (“something”, literally “some thing, any thing”), Swedish någonting (“something”, literally “some thing, any thing”).

Deep Dive

pronoun

adjective

More examples

Related

Quick test

I need blank— to eat because I haven't had food all day.

Nearby

Origin

pronoun

I need blank to eat because I haven't had food all day.