sir
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A respectful term of address to an adult male.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
surIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈsɝ
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A respectful term of address to an adult male (often older), especially if his name or proper title is unknown.
“Excuse me, sir, do you know the way to the art museum?”
A respectful term of address to a man of higher rank or position, particularly
verb
To address (someone) using "sir".
“Sir, yes, sir! Don't you sir me, private! I work for a living!”
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A respectful term of address to an adult male (often older), especially if his name or proper title is unknown.
Used this way, sir is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“Excuse me, sir, do you know the way to the art museum?”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Slightly formal
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Respectfulnoun
“Excuse me, sir, do you know the way to the art museum?”
Addressverb
“Sir, yes, sir! Don't you sir me, private! I work for a living!”
More ways to use sir
- “Excuse me, sir, do you know the way to the art museum?”noun
- “Sir, yes, sir! Don't you sir me, private! I work for a living!”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Welsh film actor (born in 1937).
Welsh film actor (born in 1937).
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API (CC BY-SA 3.0). Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.