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📰 Extra content 🧱 A filling substance 🚬 Cigar tobacco 💬 Pause word
filler

filler

2 3.4
A sound or word people use when they pause to think
  • noun
  • /ˈfɪlər/
  • Informal
translation icon : muletilla
  • Plus, fillers can make you sound unsure of your message, diluting your delivery and the impact of your message or statement.
  • verbal fillers

Take out all the UMS and ahs and your nose and filler words and long pauses.

Examples

  • Someone might ask me how old I am, and I start my sentence "I think," it's just a space filler like 'like' or 'uhm.'

    Blog text (13)

  • Are pause fillers such as "uh" and "you know" used?

    Academic text (1990)

  • OK, on that note, what is filler creep and how can we avoid it?

  • Yeah, intention or is it another silence filler statement?

  • Then I can remove these filler words like us and UMS and I can just press this button to remove the filler words.

  • The consultant had to know her own past problems with verbal fillers in order to help the client with the same difficulty.

    Academic text (2009)

  • These are conversational fillers.

    G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013)

  • Poor diction, slurred speech, and fillers (e.g., like, so, you know, right, uh, ah, um) in your key messages.

    Blog text (4)

  • Here, the consultant adapted to the client's trouble with verbal fillers ('uh,' 'um,' and other vocalizations that disrupt speech continuity) by storytelling.

    Academic text (2009)

  • When giving a presentation, it's helpful to use fillers like "uh" or "you know" to give yourself time to think.

Synonyms

uhm
vsfiller
  • Informal
35 9.8

A short sound people make when they pause to think

is any pause sound used in speech more generally than that specific pause
uhhhh
vsfiller
  • Informal
3 9.9

A sound people make when they hesitate or think

is the general pause sound not necessarily stretched in length
errr
vsfiller
  • Informal
1 9.5

A short sound people make when they are not sure

is a neutral pause sound used to think rather than signal doubt
buh
vsfiller
  • Informal
1 9.9

A short meaningless vocal sound singers or speakers use to keep the rhythm

is a general speech pause sound not limited to musical or rhythmic use

Compounds

filler-upper
  • Informal
8.4

A person who gives more drinks or a quick snack that makes you less hungry for a short time

stocking filler
  • UK
3.3

A small inexpensive gift that you put into a Christmas stocking

How Meaningful

discourse
  • Formal
122 6.4
content word
  • Specialized
4.4
placeholder
  • Specialized
6 4.0
filler
  • Informal
2 3.4
um
  • Informal
∞ 4.1

Surface Forms

filler singular
fillers plural

Morphology

filler = fill (transparent) = fill + er

A 'filler' word functions to fill pauses or gaps in speech; the noun is transparently formed from 'fill' + '-er'.

Etymology

Filler comes from fill ('to make full') and -er ('one that does'). In speech a filler is a sound or word, like 'um' or 'uh', that 'fills' a silence while you think.