wailing 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of wailingnext
as in weeping
expressing or suggesting mourning a wailing quality in her voice that makes her a natural for country music

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

wailing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of wail
1
as in screaming
to express dissatisfaction, pain, or resentment usually tiresomely the state's residents are always wailing about their high taxes

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in howling
to make a long loud mournful sound the women stood beside the coffins, wailing for their fallen sons and daughters

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3
as in moaning
to utter a moan the patient lay in her bed, occasionally softly wailing in pain

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for wailing
  1. weeping
  2. howling
  3. mournful
  4. complaining
  5. funeral
  6. whining
  7. heartbroken
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
Definition of weeping
Verb
  • This includes destructive behavior such as chewing and destroying furniture as well as things like howling and barking.
    Joseph Epstein, Newsweek, 11 Dec. 2024
  • By the fourth day of the retreat, Carr-Gomm was in severe distress, howling in pain and frothing at the mouth.
    Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 6 Dec. 2024
Definition of howling
Adjective
  • Very few directors working today can put across a movie like Gladiator II as convincingly, which perhaps explains why the sequel — for all its barbaric violence and the plaintive, at times stirring, discussions about justice and democracy — doesn’t have the mournful quality that the first film did.
    Jennifer Zhan, Vulture, 22 Nov. 2024
  • Russell Crowe beating people to death in a soulful, mournful way?
    Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 20 Nov. 2024
Definition of mournful
Verb
  • Jones himself did not attend court this week but used his show to continue complaining about the prospect of The Onion wresting control of his once lucrative conspiracy theory factory.
    Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 11 Dec. 2024
  • Alabama complaining about having to schedule easier nonconference opponents in the future for a better shot at making the College Football Playoff is quite amusing.
    Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 11 Dec. 2024
Definition of complaining
Adjective
  • Dido, after her lover Aeneas deserts her, kills herself with his sword on a funeral pyre, but not before building an effigy of him to burn alongside her.
    Jennifer Wilson, The New Yorker, 2 Dec. 2024
  • The Associated Press reported that the funeral location was not made public in advance to prevent a large crowd from gathering.
    Nardine Saad, Los Angeles Times, 20 Nov. 2024
Definition of funeral
Verb
  • Han then used a tuning fork that was set to the tone that is produced by a flies’ whining wings.
    Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 4 Dec. 2024
  • As the Dodgers officially welcomed their latest gazillionaire pitcher to a remodeling Dodger Stadium on Tuesday, the churning of the bulldozers in the infield was momentarily drowned out by the whining around the baseball world.
    Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 4 Dec. 2024
Definition of whining
Adjective
  • Madison is flawless in these closing scenes: stunned, heartbroken, unable to respond to the tentative romantic gestures of a Russian henchman who's taken a shine to her.
    Tom Gliatto, People.com, 11 Dec. 2024
  • Dog Breeds For Your Perfect Match By Brian Dillon Home & Travel Reporter 0 A dog that chewed through a wall to see its owner has left the internet heartbroken.
    Joseph Epstein, Newsweek, 11 Dec. 2024
Definition of heartbroken
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Thesaurus Entries Near wailing

wailfully

wailing

wailing (for)

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“Wailing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wailing. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

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More from Merriam-Webster on wailing

Nglish: Translation of wailing for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of wailing for Arabic Speakers

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