as in wailing
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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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of keening
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
Adjective
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
Adjective
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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
Verb
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Their relationship continued into the next year, 2018, when Lutnick emailed Epstein apparently complaining about an expansion plan for their neighboring Frick Collection art museum.—
Daniel Ruetenik,
CBS News,
7 Feb. 2026
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The action comes as the legal gambling industry has been complaining that the state’s new per-wager tax on sports betting is driving gamblers to unlicensed websites.—
Robert McCoppin,
Chicago Tribune,
6 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The poll comes as the ballot measure proposal, which is being pushed by the health care worker labor union SEIU-UHW, draws howling fury from some vocal billionaires who have threatened to leave the state and, in some cases, taken steps toward divesting from California.—
Andrew Graham,
Sacbee.com,
21 Jan. 2026
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Whitman’s howling yodel and clean-cut persona were a far cry from the sound Presley had been rehearsing.—
Joe Sills,
Forbes.com,
17 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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But his crying scene in Ford v Ferrari is one for the ages.—
Michael Granberry,
Dallas News,
17 Jan. 2020
Verb
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After National Guardsmen shot and killed four unarmed students at Kent State on May 4, 1970, Neil Young saw a Life magazine photo of a teenage girl screaming over one of the bodies and immediately wrote this song.—
Brian Hiatt,
Rolling Stone,
1 Feb. 2026
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An astute writer, Aristidou avoids including a screaming match typical of stories like this.—
Carlos Aguilar,
Variety,
31 Jan. 2026
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
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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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But students who are spending their time protesting, whining about the grading system and seeking easy classes don’t seem to fit that mold.—
Mitch Zimmer,
Washington Post,
3 Feb. 2026
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Some had noisy bearings, which could sound like a whining noise.—
John Paul,
The Providence Journal,
16 Jan. 2026
Verb
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While Slot was moaning about having to play two away matches in four days (and about missing a couple of key players), Emery, also without important figures such as Boubacar Kamara, was overseeing his Villa side playing the same tough schedule and win both games without conceding a goal.—
Tim Spiers,
New York Times,
26 Jan. 2026
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While lying on the pavement, he could be heard moaning as an officer shouted at him not to move.—
Jose R. Gonzalez,
AZCentral.com,
13 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Keening.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/keening. Accessed 10 Feb. 2026.
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