1
as in wail
a crying out in grief
we had to endure the puppy's mournful howls on her first night in our house
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in shout
a loud vocal expression of strong emotion
heard howls of laughter from the children watching the clown's silly antics
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in roar
a violent shouting
the crowd let out a howl of protest over the referee's call
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
2
as in to scream
to cry out loudly and emotionally
the boy howled in pain when his baby sister bit him
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of howl
Tiney Ricciardi, Denver Post, 11 Sep. 2025
Michel Iluz, whose son Guy Iluz was killed while captive in Gaza, shouted into the microphone at the Jerusalem protest, the pain in his voice mounting to a howl.
—Wafaa Shurafa, Arkansas Online, 7 Sep. 2025
Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 6 Sep. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for howl
Noun
In addition to the winners, the brewery will offer consolation prizes to participants with the best costume, the slowest race time and the best howl.
—Verb
The wind whips, the vegetation snaps, the electrical towers howl.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for howl
Noun
-
Low, ominous bass riffs giving way to a distorted wail of electric guitar signaled that this was the juncture in American history when the gloves came off and the real ass-kicking began.—
-
Were his character more precisely defined, Battle’s wail of feeling might carry you past the awkwardness of the songwriting, the nagging questions about what’s meant to be translucent or not, but here both character and emotion are indistinct.—
Noun
-
Their shouts came from them with surety.—
-
Conduit congregants welcomed Baker’s video with whoops, shouts and tears, signaling a shared grief.—
Noun
-
Kimmel walked onto the stage to a roar of applause from his studio audience and chants of his name.—
-
His voice was still raw from calling plays over the roar of Lincoln Financial Field.—
Verb
-
Suddenly my phone shrieked with a text from the LA fire department.—
-
Cut to a young girl shrieking, her face covered in blood.—
Verb
-
Moments later, Holguin began screaming as the dogs — grabbing him around his legs and torso — dragged him toward the back of the driveway, Silva testified.—
-
Her husband is directing a screaming grade-school-aged girl who is about to have a prosthetic finger bitten off.—
Noun
-
The character Justin, whose latent gay identity has functioned mostly as a backdoor punchline up to this point, finally develops feelings for a boy in his high-school theater program (tale as old as time) and the young love culminates in a cry-worthy way.—
-
The first word that people associate with laugh is cry, and that tells us something.—
Noun
-
There’s always been noise downtown Downtown Fort Worth sits at the intersection of three freeways, a train yard, and serves as both a central business district and entertainment spot.—
-
Forget about trying to pick out the key sounds through the crowd noise.—
Verb
-
Multiple neighbors either called the police or yelled at the attacker to get away from the girl, court documents reveal.—
-
At one point the kid started copying him and was yelling the same things and the family was laughing.—
Cite this Entry
“Howl.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/howl. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share