as in weeping
expressing or suggesting mourning
a wailing quality in her voice that makes her a natural for country music
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in screaming
to express dissatisfaction, pain, or resentment usually tiresomely
the state's residents are always wailing about their high taxes
Synonyms & Similar Words
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
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wailing
Adjective
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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
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More than 28,000 customers were without power Wednesday morning as howling winds from a powerful winter storm blew through the Kansas City metro area, utilities reported.—
Robert A. Cronkleton,
Kansas City Star,
5 Mar. 2025
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Snow, howling winds expected to have highest impact The weather service said that a cold front would come crashing through the area Tuesday night, and dangerous northwest winds would build behind the front.—
Robert A. Cronkleton,
Kansas City Star,
4 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The mournful notes of taps echoed through rainy Bronx neighborhood Thursday afternoon as six New York Police Department officers shouldered the casket of one of their own: Officer Didarul Islam.—
Elizabeth Wolfe,
CNN Money,
31 July 2025
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This second feature from filmmaker Frederik Louis Hviid is well-paced, tense, lovely to look at, and threaded through with a mournful realism.—
Taylor Antrim,
Vogue,
21 July 2025
Verb
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That first-round pick became Merriman (although, the Giants aren't complaining).—
Ryan Morik,
Fox News,
8 Jan. 2025
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The irony of the quintessential real estate expert buying a home in the flight path of an international airport, then complaining about the noise, is not lost on the rest of Palm Beach County.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
8 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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And at the heart of it are funeral plans that present his sons as a unit, and include Meghan Markle as well.—
Lissete Lanuza Sáenz,
StyleCaster,
17 July 2025
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The Franklin Fire Department has announced funeral arrangements for Tucker.—
Gabrielle Chenault,
The Tennessean,
2 July 2025
Verb
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The whining about everyone else didn’t help, either.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
31 Dec. 2024
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Stop whining and thank your lucky stars for having a job.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes,
27 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Ak’s heartbroken family are still reeling from her death.—
Rocco Parascandola,
New York Daily News,
22 July 2025
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Faced with no other option, the heartbroken family surrendered Draco to the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control (DACC), despite having loved and raised him for over five years.—
Tereza Shkurtaj,
People.com,
20 July 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Wailing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wailing. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
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