1
as in yelling
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2
as in crying
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Dissimilar Words
1
as in screaming
to make a long loud mournful sound
several coyotes began howling close by as the sun went down the wind howled on the open plain
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in shrieking
to cry out loudly and emotionally
the boy howled in pain when his baby sister bit him
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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of howling
Adam Harrington, CBS News, 8 Jan. 2026
With relentless howling wind making up much of the soundtrack, The Turin Horse was a chilling, enigmatic stunner that played like a metaphor for the apocalypse.
—Tim Grierson, Rolling Stone, 6 Jan. 2026
After the rain stopped, there was a strange howling sound from the wind that was loud, constant, and all night long.
—Thao Nguyen, USA Today, 30 Oct. 2025
Aaron Chown—Press Association via AP Images People remove a new artwork by Banksy, depicting a howling wolf painted on a satellite dish that was placed on a shop roof in Peckham, south London.
—Rebecca Schneid, Time, 10 Sep. 2025
Get ready for a wild ride in Kansas City as a weather system will send temperatures plummeting and usher in howling winds, rain and maybe some light snow on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.
—Robert A. Cronkleton, Kansas City Star, 19 Mar. 2025
Burning telephone poles blocked lanes and black soot swept across the pavement, blown by the howling winds.
—Sean Greene, Los Angeles Times, 16 Jan. 2025
But most ominous of all, at least for me, are the howling winds.
—Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 9 July 2024
Sender shifts between stories of love — between lovers, friends, family, ghosts — and the great looming shadow of the Holocaust, making a deep and howling portrait of longing and loneliness.
—Nina McLaughlin, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Mar. 2023
Desiree Anello, PEOPLE, 5 Nov. 2025
As the season shifts toward winter, the polar jet stream begins to shift south and can stir up storms that produce howling winds and gigantic waves in November on the Great Lakes.
—Doyle Rice, USA Today, 3 Nov. 2025
In the video after his thrilling run, Flav can be heard howling in delight at the white-knuckle ride down the icy shoot.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 28 Oct. 2025
Head coach Sean McVay certainly acted like it, thrusting his fists through the air in triumph as Verse skipped down the field, howling at the sparsely populated crowd at M&T Bank Stadium.
—Adam Grosbard, Oc Register, 12 Oct. 2025
Males, in particular, showed more barking and howling when left with canine companions.
—Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Sep. 2025
Normally, howling and yowling in the presence of another cat is not a good sign.
—Joan Morris, Mercury News, 29 Sep. 2025
Farms with multiple species also provide habitat for colorful and charismatic wildlife such as the endangered Yellow-eared Parrot and mantled howling monkey.
—Marianne Krasny, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
The verse resumes, and the band soldiers on, Lenker’s perseverant guitar solo howling with the weary relief of a shipwrecked sailor spotting land.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
The City of Aurora, Illinois, is touting a howling success.
—Adam Harrington, CBS News, 8 Jan. 2026
With relentless howling wind making up much of the soundtrack, The Turin Horse was a chilling, enigmatic stunner that played like a metaphor for the apocalypse.
—Tim Grierson, Rolling Stone, 6 Jan. 2026
After the rain stopped, there was a strange howling sound from the wind that was loud, constant, and all night long.
—Thao Nguyen, USA Today, 30 Oct. 2025
Aaron Chown—Press Association via AP Images People remove a new artwork by Banksy, depicting a howling wolf painted on a satellite dish that was placed on a shop roof in Peckham, south London.
—Rebecca Schneid, Time, 10 Sep. 2025
Get ready for a wild ride in Kansas City as a weather system will send temperatures plummeting and usher in howling winds, rain and maybe some light snow on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.
—Robert A. Cronkleton, Kansas City Star, 19 Mar. 2025
Burning telephone poles blocked lanes and black soot swept across the pavement, blown by the howling winds.
—Sean Greene, Los Angeles Times, 16 Jan. 2025
But most ominous of all, at least for me, are the howling winds.
—Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 9 July 2024
Sender shifts between stories of love — between lovers, friends, family, ghosts — and the great looming shadow of the Holocaust, making a deep and howling portrait of longing and loneliness.
—Nina McLaughlin, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Mar. 2023
Verb
In celebration, the pair could be seen quite literally howling at the moon with cocktails in hand — sans pants, of course.
—Desiree Anello, PEOPLE, 5 Nov. 2025
As the season shifts toward winter, the polar jet stream begins to shift south and can stir up storms that produce howling winds and gigantic waves in November on the Great Lakes.
—Doyle Rice, USA Today, 3 Nov. 2025
In the video after his thrilling run, Flav can be heard howling in delight at the white-knuckle ride down the icy shoot.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 28 Oct. 2025
Head coach Sean McVay certainly acted like it, thrusting his fists through the air in triumph as Verse skipped down the field, howling at the sparsely populated crowd at M&T Bank Stadium.
—Adam Grosbard, Oc Register, 12 Oct. 2025
Males, in particular, showed more barking and howling when left with canine companions.
—Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Sep. 2025
Normally, howling and yowling in the presence of another cat is not a good sign.
—Joan Morris, Mercury News, 29 Sep. 2025
Farms with multiple species also provide habitat for colorful and charismatic wildlife such as the endangered Yellow-eared Parrot and mantled howling monkey.
—Marianne Krasny, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
The verse resumes, and the band soldiers on, Lenker’s perseverant guitar solo howling with the weary relief of a shipwrecked sailor spotting land.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 2 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for howling
Adjective
-
Think Pictionary, but with way more yelling and questionable drawings.—
Francesca Krempa,
StyleCaster,
11 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
But his crying scene in Ford v Ferrari is one for the ages.—
Michael Granberry,
Dallas News,
17 Jan. 2020
Verb
-
According to the Union Parish Sheriff’s Office, deputies were dispatched in November to a residence in the Linville community of Marion after a caller reported a neighbor standing in their driveway screaming and refusing to leave the property despite having been warned previously.—
Jasmine Baehr,
FOXNews.com,
9 Jan. 2026
-
Avid viewers of The Studio will appreciate the callback to a watershed episode this season when Ice Cube, as himself, uttered the same to a room filled with screaming fans, causing a fresh headache for Seth Rogen’s backlot boss Matt Remick.—
Steven Zeitchik,
HollywoodReporter,
9 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
This seems to me as offensive to rationality as a saint shrieking into the air.—
Christian Wiman,
Harpers Magazine,
30 Dec. 2025
-
Meanwhile below, Frank chases Havlock through the dam’s tunnels on a snowmobile, the machine shrieking against concrete.—
JP Mangalindan,
Time,
5 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
The responses in Bug are very vocal and that is a lot of fun.—
Juan A. Ramírez,
Vogue,
9 Jan. 2026
-
Hopefuls are judged on musical performance, song choice, vocal abilities, costuming, crowd appeal and authenticity in portraying the real-life Gold Rush character Klondike Kate.—
Pioneer Press,
Twin Cities,
8 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Rather than atop fire station roofs, sirens would be placed along areas prone to flash flooding that have both tone and voice capacity, Brissie said, allowing officials to broadcast a wailing alarm or spoken instructions.—
Nora O'Neill,
Charlotte Observer,
18 Sep. 2025
-
Karaoke on Ambience mainly consists of elderly monk-like men croaking out album tracks by Black Sabbath, and grey haired women wailing out ABBA songs.—
David Greig
September 15,
Literary Hub,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Dozens of Morton Grove kiddos helped to ring in the New Year about 12 hours before the calendar change, blowing noisemakers and squealing with excitement as balloons were released to celebrate the move into 2026.—
Pioneer Press,
Chicago Tribune,
6 Jan. 2026
-
Most of the comedy is of the slapstick variety, including set-pieces with a live tarantula, a dead squirrel and a squealing wild hog.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
23 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
Bowling at run-hungry batters on largely unforgiving pitches in vast, cacophonous stadiums with huge outfields in front of a partisan and at times baying crowd — plenty of English bowlers have found bowling in Australia akin to a Sisyphean task.—
James Wallace,
New York Times,
22 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Howling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/howling. Accessed 10 Jan. 2026.
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