Synonyms of crying

crying 1 of 3

adjective

ˈkrī-iŋ 

as in urgent

needing immediate attention

a crying need for more activities for young people in this town

Synonyms & Similar Words

• urgent
• acute
• pressing
• intense
• desperate
• dire
• burning
• critical
• compelling
• emergent
• importunate
• instant
• serious
• imperative
• insistent
• clamant
• extreme
• demanding
• imperious
• immediate
• exigent
• overriding
• crucial
• necessitous
• severe
• dangerous
• grave
• life-and-death
• hazardous
• explosive
• precarious
• unstable
• perilous
• vital

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• minor
• trivial
• unimportant
• negligible
• incidental
• noncritical
• safe
• nonurgent
• low-pressure
• stable
• nonthreatening

crying

2 of 3

noun

as in weeping

Related Words

• weeping
• sobbing
• whining
• whimpering
• blubbering
• sniveling
• wail
• groan
• yammering
• lamentation
• moan
• bawl
• shriek
• whine
• lament
• keen
• cry
• plaint
• whimper
• yelp
• yowl
• howl
• squall

Dissimilar Words

• laugh
• chuckle
• giggle
• guffaw
• snicker
• cackle
• titter
• twitter
• chortle
• snigger

crying

3 of 3

verb

present participle of cry

1

as in sobbing

to shed tears often while making meaningless sounds as a sign of pain or distress

some kids started to cry even before the doctor had given them their shot

Synonyms & Similar Words

• sobbing
• weeping
• screaming
• blubbering
• bawling
• grieving
• blubbing
• whimpering
• whining
• mourning
• groaning
• howling
• moaning
• lamenting
• wailing
• sighing
• squalling
• sniffling
• greeting
• keening
• sniveling
• bleating
• mewling
• puling
• yowling

2

as in singing

to utter one's distinctive animal sound

we knew that we were getting very close to the ocean when we could hear sea gulls crying

Synonyms & Similar Words

• singing
• calling

3

as in shouting

to speak so as to be heard at a distance

a mother crying for help

Synonyms & Similar Words

• shouting
• yelling
• screaming
• hollering
• calling
• bawling
• roaring
• bellowing
• thundering
• baying
• vociferating
• sounding off
• shrieking
• wailing
• holloing
• screeching
• whooping
• howling
• squealing
• squeaking
• crowing
• shrilling
• yowling
• hailing
• caterwauling
• ululating
• speaking out
• yawping
• speaking up

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• whispering
• breathing
• muttering
• murmuring
• mumbling

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of crying

Adjective

Some in the pro-crying camp pointed to articles and headlines as proof. — Jon Sarlin, CNN Money, 11 July 2026

Noun

The crying can become the dominant thing, and the acting is the crying as opposed to being able to convey a personality underneath all of that, being able to find the nuance of who this character is outside of the crying. — Brande Victorian, HollywoodReporter, 15 Aug. 2026

Another video shows a man holding the crying infant, with his arms covered in blood and the lower half of his body still trapped in rubble. — Duarte Dias, CBS News, 12 Aug. 2026

Oscar-winning actress Julianne Moore received a bizarre gift of flip-flops adorned with her own crying face. — Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 6 Aug. 2026

Sheriff's deputies found two people standing near a tan van crying, the report says. — Rafael Escalera Montoto, Arkansas Online, 5 Aug. 2026

The crying or whining may reflect excitement and anticipation. — Cathy M. Rosenthal, Chicago Tribune, 1 Aug. 2026

Wanner was taken by the suspect, leaving behind her 11-month-old daughter in a high chair, where she was later found crying and alone. — Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 14 July 2026

After Messi and his team's loss to Saudi Arabia in November 2022, the athlete told reporters, per The Mirror, that Mateo left the stadium crying. — Karli Bendlin, PEOPLE, 24 June 2026

This is not the kid-crying, shoulder-to-shoulder type of resort; outside of newer guests, there are families who have been coming here for years and understand the groove of it all, from toddlers to teenagers. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 18 June 2026

Verb

Elliott was crying, Dorien was comforting, and Joaquin Phoenix came over trying to make conversation. — Emily Palmer Heller, Vulture, 7 Sep. 2026

Her two children were crying on the couch, watching news of the day's tragedies on television. — Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 6 Sep. 2026

When the Kirk family attorney spoke about how Charlie Kirk stood for the opposite of hate, Erika Kirk was crying and nodding along. — Andi Babineau, CNN Money, 2 Sep. 2026

Candy sellers reported customers crying at the thought of life without Necco wafers. — HubSpot, 1 Sep. 2026

It will be paid by a woman four months postpartum who cannot sleep and cannot stop crying, who calls six numbers and is offered a first appointment in seven weeks, and who decides somewhere around the fourth call that help does not exist. — Jennifer Adaeze Okwerekwu, STAT, 1 Sep. 2026

Critics have been crying irrelevance since its earliest days. — ABC News, 1 Sep. 2026

In the distance, a toddler in a matching Nike outfit literally leaped into the arms of a crying woman, perhaps a grandmother, squeezing tightly for a hug. — Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, 30 Aug. 2026

Meanwhile, Clancy is visibly emotional, crying and wiping her eyes. — Sumiko Corley, NBC news, 27 Aug. 2026