as in wails
a crying out in grief
the loud keens of the widows were heard throughout the war-ravaged city
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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
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Her wails make Davina recall her own confinement, where she was treated similarly awfully and responded by cursing the women in the room.—
Kimberly Roots,
TVLine,
5 Sep. 2025 -
An ambulance siren wails past, coming up from the river.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
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There has been a consistent pattern with Florida football where a group of Gators fans complains about the current head coach, sportswriters mock them for having unrealistic expectations, and then those fans turn out to be totally correct.—
Stewart Mandel,
New York Times,
10 Sep. 2025
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Roman complains about pain in his feet, and Dennis offers him a foot massage.—
Barry Levitt,
Time,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The screams, the reason everyone assembles, when the screams come, after a few collective inhales and exhales and a moment to gather one’s thoughts, the screams come like long guttural howls.—
Christopher Borrelli,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Sep. 2025
-
Foxes use a variety of calls, including barks, howls, yaps, and growls.—
Arricca Elin SanSone,
Southern Living,
6 Aug. 2025
Noun
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And Gutfeld didn’t shed any tears for his fellow TV host.—
Tony Maglio,
HollywoodReporter,
18 Sep. 2025
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For some, tears stained their faces.—
David Clarey,
jsonline.com,
18 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Rather than let his boy be torn apart by terrible creatures in the mist, David uses a gun to mercy-kill them all and screams in anguish because there isn't a bullet left for him.—
James Grebey,
Time,
12 Sep. 2025
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Mom screams like a rabid animal.—
Dr. Sue Varma,
CNBC,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The cheers that accompanied the sixth-inning rally quickly turned to groans in the top of the seventh when struggling Dodgers reliever Michael Kopech walked Jung Hoo-Lee and Bailey to open the inning before striking out Drew Gilbert.—
Mike Digiovanna,
Oc Register,
19 Sep. 2025
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Feel that lovely dog weight, dog density, as your dog settles and downshifts, grows heavy with unconsciousness, and makes the profound noises, the groans of contentment and secret multi-voweled suspirations, of a dog entering its sleep world.—
James Parker,
The Atlantic,
16 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Since Kimmel’s remark, the backlash has shifted from conservative furor to cries of capitulation, coming from Capitol Hill Democrats, to former President Barack Obama, to former Disney CEO Michael Eisner.—
Ted Johnson,
Deadline,
19 Sep. 2025
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The cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry.—
Rachel Treisman,
NPR,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
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What can be dizzying about the collection is the way traditional themes of Yiddish song and Hebrew liturgy — lyrics of resilience in the face of persecution, prayers of consolation for the brokenhearted, Lamentations read on Tisha B’Av — are recast with the Palestinians as their protagonists.—
Andrew Silow-Carroll,
Sun Sentinel,
5 Aug. 2025
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An artwork from the series Wall of Lamentations by Santiago Montoya that was on view in March at Halcyon Gallery, in London.—
Harper’s Magazine,
Harpers Magazine,
16 July 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Keens.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/keens. Accessed 21 Sep. 2025.
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