as in wails
a crying out in grief
the loud keens of the widows were heard throughout the war-ravaged city
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in complains
to express dissatisfaction, pain, or resentment usually tiresomely
victims of the disaster have been keening for weeks about the slowness of governmental aid
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for keens
Noun
-
The album’s Bandcamp blurb shouts out Ghédalia Tarzatès, the late French composer who collaged his wails and lamentations in the endangered Ladino language to evoke pangs of existential angst.—
H.D. Angel,
Pitchfork,
6 Feb. 2026 -
In some, relatives are seen walking among the black bags, trying to identify the deceased, as wails and screams fill the background.—
Molly Hunter,
NBC news,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Kane often complains on social media that state gaming laws were constructed with traditional sportsbooks in mind, a process that failed to conceptualize exchanges.—
Dan Bernstein,
Sportico.com,
4 Feb. 2026
-
Other conversations sound quaint, like one where a bot complains about its human, while some are bizarre, such as one from a bot that claims to have a sister.—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
31 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
At night, the desert comes alive with coyote howls, prowling skunks and the possibility of larger cats or black bears nearby.—
Joan Meiners,
AZCentral.com,
6 Feb. 2026
-
The wind howls, and the sound of the runners grinding over the ice is surprisingly loud.—
Nathan Pilling,
Kansas City Star,
26 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
While the 27-year-old skater was brought to tears after seeing her final time, Paul was in the stands doing the same, surrounded by her family, who also couldn’t help but cry tears of joy.—
Scott Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Gripped with pain, tears streamed down her face the entire two-hour trip from the airport to her parents’ home in Albany.—
Lindsay Schnell,
New York Times,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
On paper, Proctor screams Eagles.—
Zach Berman,
New York Times,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Vonn lost control within moments of leaving the start house, clipping a gate with her right shoulder and pinwheeling down the slope before ending up awkwardly on her back, her skis crisscrossed below her and her screams ringing out soon after medical personnel arrived.—
ANDREW DAMPF,
Arkansas Online,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The ball nestling into the net was greeted with the unique mix of cheers and groans in Viejas Arena that, to the gambling crowd, can mean only one thing.—
Mark Zeigler,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
5 Feb. 2026
-
The video ends as Chakraborty collapses onto a couch and groans in pain with the officer continuing to yell at him to drop the knife.—
Colin Mixson,
New York Daily News,
4 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Fennell begins on a black screen and the sound of creaks and moans.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Shannon moans right about the time Jenn walks out to see what the commotion is all about.—
Peter Larsen,
Oc Register,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Bergholm employs some very effective sound design here, giving just a hint of animalistic growling to the kid’s lusty cries.—
Catherine Bray,
Variety,
14 Feb. 2026
-
The narrator cries, rages, longs for the living body and the lively boy, and obsesses over painful details, especially the bleak journey by sea that brought the remains of his beloved friend back home.—
Kathryn Schulz,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
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.
Cite this Entry
“Keens.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/keens. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
