Colloquial Variant guide

yessum

contraction · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˈjɛs(ə)m/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɛsəm

1

contraction

Meaning 1

Used to express agreement with a woman (and, somewhat less commonly, a man): yes, ma'am.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US, contraction, dated, dialectal, informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: no'm

2

contraction

Meaning 2

Alternative form of yes.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Australia, alt-of, alternative, contraction, informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Contraction of yes, ma'am.

Across languages

Translations

2 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: kyllä rouva — (informal) used to express agreement with a woman
  • Swedish: ja fröken — (informal) used to express agreement with a woman