roared; roaring; roars
1
a
: to utter or emit a full loud prolonged sound
b
: to sing or shout with full force
2
a
: to make or emit a loud confused sound (such as background reverberation or rumbling)
b
: to laugh loudly
3
a
: to be boisterous or disorderly
b
: to proceed or rush with great noise or commotion
4
: to make a loud noise during inhalation (such as that of a horse affected with roaring)
1
: the deep cry of a wild animal (such as a lion)
2
: a loud deep cry (as of pain or anger)
3
: a loud continuous confused sound
the roar of the crowd
4
: a boisterous outcry
Synonyms
Examples of roar in a Sentence
Verb
We heard a lion roar in the distance.
The joke got the crowd roaring.
The crowd roared its approval.
She roared at him for being late.
Noun
the roar of the airplane engines
the roar of the river
Recent Examples on the Web
Doyle Rice, USA TODAY, 26 Apr. 2024
This playful twist kept the audience entranced before everyone eventually broke out in contagious laughter and roaring applause.
—Eliseé Browchuk, Vogue, 25 Apr. 2024
My parents watched David Letterman on the couch with the wood stove roaring in the winters and read the Sunday newspaper in their pajamas on the deck in the summers.
—Steve Knopper, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2024
Viewers love the glitz and glamor of the races, and the heady sounds of roaring engines and screeching tires.
—Reina Sasaki, Fortune Europe, 17 Apr. 2024
Before exiting the stage, Shakira teased the tour news to a roaring crowd.
—Ed Masley, The Arizona Republic, 16 Apr. 2024
As if that’s not cute enough, our favorite part is that this costume also includes a little sound chip that roars, so kids can really get into the part.
—Ashley Ziegler, Parents, 13 Apr. 2024
Oklahoma City, Fort Worth, Wichita, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, are just a few areas that could have damaging storms roaring through after dark.
—Mary Gilbert, CNN, 13 Apr. 2024
With each Ohtani plate appearance, the appreciative crowd roars even louder.
—Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2024
Rebecca Angel Baer, Southern Living, 22 Apr. 2024
Ferrari customers love the roar of the car so much that the Italian automaker is making no concessions when recreating it in its forthcoming EV.
—Prarthana Prakash, Fortune Europe, 22 Apr. 2024
Located beneath a tangle of freeway overpasses, the park reverberated with chest-thumping music and speeches amplified extra loud to drown out the roar of overhead traffic.
—Phil Diehl, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Apr. 2024
The huge cathartic roar that greeted Amad Diallo’s winner in the final minute of extra time at Old Trafford nearly two weeks ago has finally begun to fade.
—Sam Pilger, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
Beneath the vehicular roar in the years around 1900 was a simmering new electronic sound, native to the telephone, the phonograph, the radio, and other forms of transmission and reproduction.
—Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2024
Mufasa: The Lion King is coming out of the shadows and beginning to practice its roar.
—Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Apr. 2024
Users can also add sound effects like the roar of a crowd or keyboard taps.
—Emilia David, The Verge, 3 Apr. 2024
The roar to 60 happens in 3.2 seconds; impressive given the lack of AWD.
—Sean Evans, Robb Report, 1 Apr. 2024
Verb
It's already been a newsworthy year for wildfires in the U.S.: Due mainly to the wildfires that roared across the grasslands of Texas in March, some 1.7 million acres have burned in the U.S. so far this year, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.
—Doyle Rice, USA TODAY, 26 Apr. 2024
This playful twist kept the audience entranced before everyone eventually broke out in contagious laughter and roaring applause.
—Eliseé Browchuk, Vogue, 25 Apr. 2024
My parents watched David Letterman on the couch with the wood stove roaring in the winters and read the Sunday newspaper in their pajamas on the deck in the summers.
—Steve Knopper, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2024
Viewers love the glitz and glamor of the races, and the heady sounds of roaring engines and screeching tires.
—Reina Sasaki, Fortune Europe, 17 Apr. 2024
Before exiting the stage, Shakira teased the tour news to a roaring crowd.
—Ed Masley, The Arizona Republic, 16 Apr. 2024
As if that’s not cute enough, our favorite part is that this costume also includes a little sound chip that roars, so kids can really get into the part.
—Ashley Ziegler, Parents, 13 Apr. 2024
Oklahoma City, Fort Worth, Wichita, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, are just a few areas that could have damaging storms roaring through after dark.
—Mary Gilbert, CNN, 13 Apr. 2024
With each Ohtani plate appearance, the appreciative crowd roars even louder.
—Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2024
Noun
McCreery, smiling from ear to ear, took a moment to take in the roar of the crowd, the gravitas of the moment.
—Rebecca Angel Baer, Southern Living, 22 Apr. 2024
Ferrari customers love the roar of the car so much that the Italian automaker is making no concessions when recreating it in its forthcoming EV.
—Prarthana Prakash, Fortune Europe, 22 Apr. 2024
Located beneath a tangle of freeway overpasses, the park reverberated with chest-thumping music and speeches amplified extra loud to drown out the roar of overhead traffic.
—Phil Diehl, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Apr. 2024
The huge cathartic roar that greeted Amad Diallo’s winner in the final minute of extra time at Old Trafford nearly two weeks ago has finally begun to fade.
—Sam Pilger, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
Beneath the vehicular roar in the years around 1900 was a simmering new electronic sound, native to the telephone, the phonograph, the radio, and other forms of transmission and reproduction.
—Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2024
Mufasa: The Lion King is coming out of the shadows and beginning to practice its roar.
—Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Apr. 2024
Users can also add sound effects like the roar of a crowd or keyboard taps.
—Emilia David, The Verge, 3 Apr. 2024
The roar to 60 happens in 3.2 seconds; impressive given the lack of AWD.
—Sean Evans, Robb Report, 1 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'roar.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near roar
Cite this Entry
“Roar.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/roar. Accessed 30 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
roar
1 of 2 verb
ˈrō(ə)r 
ˈrȯ(ə)r
1
: to utter a long full loud sound
the lion roared
2
: to laugh loudly
3
: to say with a roar
roarer
noun
ˈrōr-ər
ˈrȯr-
roar
2 of 2 noun1
a
: the deep loud cry of a wild animal (as a lion)
b
: a loud deep cry or shout
2
: a loud confused sound
the roar of the crowd
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