mhmm

Mhmm is an interjection used in English to represent a range of nonlexical vocalizations, from thinking or hesitation to mild agreement. It functions as a discourse marker in conversation, signaling attention or a response without explicit statements. The form is typically spelled with repeated vowels and consonants, and its interpretation depends on context and prosody.

Variants and meanings include mhm, mhmm, mm-hmm, and hmm. Hmm generally signals contemplation or uncertainty, while mm-hmm or mhmm conveys agreement or acknowledgment, often accompanied by a nod in spoken interaction. The exact nuance can vary by speaker, region, and tone.

Usage in text and media: mhmm appears in informal dialogue in prose, transcripts, chat messages, and social media. It is considered nonstandard in formal writing and can be misunderstood if tone is not clear, since written forms lack vocal cues. In fields such as computational linguistics and sentiment analysis, these tokens are treated as non-lexical vocalizations rather than words with semantic content.

See also: hmm; mhm; mm-hmm.