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keening 1 of 2

adjective

as in wailing

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keening

2 of 2

verb

present participle of keen
1
as in complaining
to express dissatisfaction, pain, or resentment usually tiresomely victims of the disaster have been keening for weeks about the slowness of governmental aid

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in howling
to make a long loud mournful sound mourners keening for the victims of the bombing

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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 keening
Adjective
Languid piano tunes give way to surging, keening tides of strings. — Tim Greiving, Los Angeles Times, 11 Aug. 2026 Speaking of God, the pedal steel is capable of exaltation, too, the rise and fall of its strings able to emulate a glorious choir or a keening request or spread out like the cosmos itself. — Grayson Haver Currin, Pitchfork, 20 July 2026 The memoir shows little interest in the gambler’s psychology or the keening dramas of the floor. — Dan Piepenbring, New Yorker, 4 Feb. 2026 This sequence, with its onstage vengeance, despair and keening dialogue, and its offstage look at how Kikuo’s triumph affects the two people closest to him, is one of the most powerful in the movie. — Sheri Linden, HollywoodReporter, 29 Oct. 2025 But Dunne’s voice, lilting and keening, is rich with empathy. — Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 5 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for keening
  1. wailing
  2. complaining
  3. howling
  4. crying
  5. screaming
  6. weeping
  7. whining
  8. sentimental
Adjective
  • Sitting opposite an old people’s home in a residential corner of Paris’ 14th arrondissement, La Santé’s unassuming presence is only given away by the occasional wailing siren as prisoners are transported to and from the site.
    — Joseph Ataman, CNN Money, 14 Oct. 2025
Definition of wailing
Verb
  • Put another way—and this is evidently how Gray saw it—Kanarek was always complaining.
    — Ian Parker, New Yorker, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Piles of unopened mail, losing track of cash or checks and complaining about not having enough money are indicators that elders may need someone to take over their finances, according to the Elder Care Alliance.
    — Alexiah Syrai Olsen, Sacbee.com, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of complaining
Verb
  • Late one night in October, 2017, Jane Marx, a landscape architect in the wine country of Northern California, woke up to the smell of smoke and the sound of an eerie, howling wind.
    — Ingfei Chen, New Yorker, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Leithauser was the distinctive, often howling voice of the Walkmen, while Rostam was a songwriter and producer in Vampire Weekend.
    — SPIN Staff, SPIN, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of howling
Adjective
  • Some in the pro-crying camp pointed to articles and headlines as proof.
    — Jon Sarlin, CNN Money, 11 July 2026
Definition of crying
Verb
  • By the time the rock legends arrived, the black carpet was empty, aside from the herd of photographers and screaming fans.
    — Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 7 Sep. 2026
  • Within seconds, protesters swarmed among the agents, screaming and holding their cellphones aloft.
    — Caroline Kubzansky, Chicago Tribune, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of screaming
Adjective
  • 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
Definition of weeping
Verb
  • Still, to Sandy, Joe’s whining is no reason to write him off altogether.
    — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 15 Sep. 2026
  • And everyone stop whining to their mom about the other one – or in this case, a federal judge.
    — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of whining
Adjective
  • Call me sentimental, but an epiphany at a table can linger for a long time.
    — Daniel Hernandez, Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Over the 28 years since its release, the original Practical Magic, despite its dismal reviews and middling box-office reception, has accrued a sentimental affection from fans.
    — Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of sentimental

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Cite this Entry

“Keening.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/keening. Accessed 20 Sep. 2026.

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