1
as in complaining
to express dissatisfaction, pain, or resentment usually tiresomely
victims of the disaster have been keening for weeks about the slowness of governmental aid
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in wailing
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of keening
Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 5 Sep. 2025
All the keening Elektras heartbreakingly silly.
—Anne Carson, New Yorker, 21 Aug. 2025
Verb
But Dunne’s voice, lilting and keening, is rich with empathy.
—Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 5 Sep. 2025
All the keening Elektras heartbreakingly silly.
—Anne Carson, New Yorker, 21 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for keening
Verb
-
Nah — not very long later, Tony is referencing his Bond obsession, complaining about the generic name of the secret drone-control computer program everyone is battling for here.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
4 Sep. 2025
-
But everybody was complaining and asking for a hot one.—
Andy Wang,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Siberian huskies are naturally vocal dogs, and howling like in the video is a normal part of their behavior.—
Maria Azzurra Volpe,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 Sep. 2025
-
The verse resumes, and the band soldiers on, Lenker’s perseverant guitar solo howling with the weary relief of a shipwrecked sailor spotting land.—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
2 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
A couple climbed through a sunroof to rescue a 22-month-old screaming child left alone in a hot car, Massachusetts police said.—
Paloma Chavez,
Miami Herald,
4 Sep. 2025
-
Kristen raced to the school and found a cop waiting for her as well as firetrucks and an ambulance, where her son was inside screaming.—
Wendy Grossman Kantor,
PEOPLE,
4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
But his crying scene in Ford v Ferrari is one for the ages.—
Michael Granberry,
Dallas News,
17 Jan. 2020
Verb
-
Ellis could be heard moaning and could be seen lying on the ground.—
Elena Santa Cruz,
AZCentral.com,
3 Sep. 2025
-
The patient is actually a training dummy that instructors can manipulate into yelling, moaning, retching, suffering blood pressure spikes, heart attacks and other medical emergencies.—
Beth Warren,
The Tennessean,
21 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
And every day, across from them, outside the clinic, about to enter or just leaving, there were women hugging each other and weeping.—
David Mamet,
National Review,
11 Aug. 2022
-
The show manages to stay on the brink — always laughing, never quite weeping — for its entire length.—
Helen Shaw,
Vulture,
8 Dec. 2021
Verb
-
In lesser hands, such a question, especially from a young white male who plays guitar for a living, could come off as whining.—
Joseph Hudak,
Rolling Stone,
5 Sep. 2025
-
And since then, his crying and whining have increased.—
Liz O'Connell,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
He was also heard muttering expletives down the stretch, visibly battling the heat and pressure.—
Devlina Sarkar,
MSNBC Newsweek,
23 Aug. 2025
-
That Longhorns fan muttering about Nietzsche was right after all.—
Steven Louis Goldstein,
New York Times,
20 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Keening.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/keening. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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