DictionaryAI

him

HIM/ˈhɪm/

Noun pluralhims

5 meanings of him

Practice

  1. 1
    pronoun
    Used to refer to a man, boy or male animal already mentioned or easily identified, as the object of a verb or preposition, and after be, than or as.

    That's him in the blue jacket.

    Nobody runs as fast as him.

    UsageIt's him and as fast as him are normal English; he in these places sounds very formal.

    Note

    Two slots where the object form stands in for he. After be it has a long history: Macbeth cries "damn'd be him", and "it's him" is the everyday form. After than and as, "more than him" treats the word like a preposition, while "more than he" implies a clause (than he did).

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

  2. 2
    joined by andpronouncolloquial
    Used as the subject of a verb when joined to another noun or pronoun by and, where standard English uses he.

    Him and Sara are getting married.

    Him and the dog go running every morning.

    UsageIn formal speech and writing, use he and Sara instead.

    Note

    Coordination is where the object form slips into the subject position in everyday speech: him and Bernie are best friends, him and 25,000 troops were going to stage a coup.

  3. 3
    a malenouncolloquialcountable
    A male person or animal.

    The vet said the kitten is a him.

    When the vet asked if the rabbit was a him or a her, nobody in the family knew.

    UsageUsually paired with her: a him or a her. The plural is hims.

    Similarhe

    Oppositeher, she, female

    Note

    A pronoun pressed into service as a noun, nearly always beside her: this bird is a him, but it may be a her. It takes an article and a regular plural, so Tom Wolfe can write "both hims" in a 2004 novel.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

Less common meanings

  1. 4
    star playerpronounslang
    Stressed and without an antecedent, the standout person with elite skill at a sport or game.

    He scored forty points last night; he's him.

    Stop showing off, you're not him.

    UsageUsually after be: he's him, I'm him, and the put-down you're not him.

    Note

    A stressed pronoun with no one behind it: in this slang it names the player everyone has in mind, the acknowledged best. It turns up in 2023 rap and in speedrunning chatter, and the plainer near-equivalent is that guy.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • This slang use occurs in 2023 rap, exemplified by PLUMMCORP RECORDS' Dracula Flow 3. en.wiktionary.org
    • This slang use occurs in speedrunning discussion, including a comment dated October 25, 2023, about Suigi's Super Mario 64 run. en.wiktionary.org
  2. 5
    pronounarchaic
    Used reflexively, referring back to a male subject.
    Apon a daye apoynted, the kynge arayed hym in royall apparell, and set hym in his seate, and made an oracion unto them.
    1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt (Tyndale Bible)

    UsageIn modern English write himself; a bare him here suggests another man.

    Note

    An old reflexive that did the work of himself. Tyndale's king in 1526 arrayed him in royal apparel and set him in his seat, dressing and seating himself. Goldsmith still uses it in 1764, in a line where the peasant fits him to the soil.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

    • Him historically served as a reflexive equivalent to himself. en.wiktionary.org
    • Tyndale's complete New Testament was first printed in 1526. tyndale.org
    • In Tyndale's Acts 12:21, the king dresses and seats himself, with him used reflexively. en.wikisource.org
    • Oliver Goldsmith wrote The Traveller, which contains the peasant passage. en.wikisource.org
    • The Traveller was first published in 1764, although its first-edition title page bears 1765. gutenberg.org
    • Goldsmith's peasant fits himself to the soil, expressed as fits him. en.wikisource.org

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of him apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

From Middle English "him," from Old English "him," going back to Proto-Germanic *himmai ("to this, to this one"). It is related to Dutch "hem" and German "ihm" (the dative "him").

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

  • English him descends through Middle English him and Old English him from reconstructed Proto-Germanic *himmai, meaning to this or to this one. en.wiktionary.org
  • Dutch hem is related through the same Proto-Germanic ancestor. en.wiktionary.org
  • German ihm is related through the same Proto-Germanic ancestor. en.wiktionary.org
  • German ihm is the dative form meaning him. en.wiktionary.org