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Sigh, an audible exhalation, conveys a broad range of emotions from sadness and disappointment to sarcasm and relief. People frequently write it out online to express such sentiments.

We’ve been sighing long before it was written down. It was first recorded around the 1300s as both a noun and a verb. In Middle English literature, we see many sighs in longing for love, for instance, or other worldly woes.

As online writing can’t always convey tone, typing out sigh became particularly useful and common as the internet took off in the 1990s–2000s. So much so, in fact, that in the 2000s, the mock French le sigh—w���ٳ� le a French article for “the”—became a humorous way to show frustration, weariness, or other emotions.

I have acquired a painful set of loneliness… Le sigh.

— Sarah Faye O'Connor (@SarahFOConnor)

In digital communication, people write out sigh in commentary on–or reaction to–various content. It is also used to mark the tone on a post or message.

Often, sigh written just as sigh after a remark or on its own. It may also be written as *sigh*, the asterisks acting like stage directions. Some even write le sigh for emphasis or irony.

All is restored! le sigh

— Corlon Evans (@Corlon_Evans)

Internet sigh’s are as versatile as real-life sighs, and they’ve migrated from social media to web article headlines. They can be issued in complaint, annoyance, disappointment, resignation, even wistful yearning.

Gosh she was pretty *sigh* ♥️

— Ǥαβʀιεlα 🦎🐲 (@noir_or_never)

Good Morning from the Golden Retriever Channel. M and the kids are up early. Let's get a little wet. One of the kids wants a ride on the Purple Submarine. It's going to be a long day *sigh*

(Nicholberrygoldens IG)

— Golden Retriever Channel (@GoldretrieverUS)

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This content is not meant to be a formal definition of this term. Rather, it is an informal summary that seeks to provide supplemental information and context important to know or keep in mind about the term’s history, meaning, and usage.