as in to shriek
to cry out loudly and emotionally
the toddler screeched in anger when her stuffed rabbit was taken away
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in squeal
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of screech
Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 11 Feb. 2025
Escalating tit-for-tat tariffs this month brought everything to a screeching halt.
—Aowen Cao, NPR, 18 Apr. 2025
Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 11 Feb. 2025
The jungle struck up its evening symphony: the sweet chittering of insects, the distant bellowing of monkeys, the occasional screech of a kite.
—Charlie Cordero, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for screech
Verb
The old-school formality of the costumes—women in dresses, men with ties—is counterbalanced by the flamboyance of their colors: flaming red, screeching green, lavish blue, acerbic yellow, judgmental white, which inflect the action’s moods and set its tones.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 11 Feb. 2025
Escalating tit-for-tat tariffs this month brought everything to a screeching halt.
—Aowen Cao, NPR, 18 Apr. 2025
Noun
As the monkeys in the trees screech and guests and staff scramble for safety from the continuing gunfire, a body floats into frame, face down.
—Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 11 Feb. 2025
The jungle struck up its evening symphony: the sweet chittering of insects, the distant bellowing of monkeys, the occasional screech of a kite.
—Charlie Cordero, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for screech
Recent Examples of Synonyms for screech
Verb
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His ability to be believable as both a laconic grump and a hysterically shrieking interrogator helps add some emotional grounding to Havoc, which otherwise indulges in Evans’s more-is-more-is-more ideology.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
25 Apr. 2025
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Dawn fights off the ghost, bleeding and shrieking into the void, pouring her heart into the battle.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
26 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Frontman Bryan Garris let out a mighty pig squeal as guest vocalist Poppy thrashed and screamed across the stage, dressed like an even more macabre girl from The Ring.—
Brenna Ehrlich,
Rolling Stone,
12 Feb. 2025
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Listen for a squeal and know that your prank was a success! 20.—
Kimberly Stoney,
Parents,
19 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Videos posted to social media appear to show the mast of the ship crashing into the bridge just before 8:30 p.m., as passengers and nearby onlookers screamed, prompting an immediate search and rescue operation on the East River for the injured and overboard passengers.—
Alexandra Koch , Alexis McAdams , CB Cotton , Landon Mion,
FOXNews.com,
18 May 2025
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Downstairs on the fairy-tale terrace, over an exorbitant Scottish cheese board, her mother and husband and sister were all screaming at one another.—
Patricia Lockwood,
New Yorker,
18 May 2025
Noun
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The animals use complex clicks, squawks and whistles to call out to each other, fight and attract a mate.—
Sara Hashemi,
Smithsonian Magazine,
25 Apr. 2025
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The show is thrilling as a sensory experience, humming with sinister percussive beats and the occasional muffled animal squawk in the distance.—
Sophie Gilbert,
The Atlantic,
5 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The ensuing roar caused Bryson DeChambeau, standing on the 17th green, to reset his pre-shot routine.—
Justin Ray,
New York Times,
18 May 2025
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On the drivable par-4 14th, Scheffler caused a roar in the crowd with an excellent tee shot to set up a short eagle putt.—
Troy Finnegan,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 May 2025
Noun
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As the birds practiced, their initial random squeaks gradually turned into melodies that closely matched their parents’ songs.—
Jenny Lehmann,
Discover Magazine,
27 Mar. 2025
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And studies have shown that mice carrying human FOXP2 genes also make strange squeaks.—
Carl Zimmer,
New York Times,
18 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Drivers build lives around parking: the work shifts altered to align with the alternate-side-rotation hours, the keys always in the pocket, the Pavlovian alertness at the chirp of an unlocking car.—
Zach Helfand,
New Yorker,
5 May 2025
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From its facial expressions to its distinctive chirp, the creature is wreathed in a kind of nostalgia that Eighties kids will remember from those early days trolling the VHS rack at their local Blockbuster.—
Brenna Ehrlich,
Rolling Stone,
26 Apr. 2025
Noun
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In the video, Shona—a Rhodesian ridgeback—sits in the back seat, letting out an intense yowl and staring fixedly out the window at something her owner couldn't see.—
David Faris,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Apr. 2025
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Yes, that would be Post Malone, who convincingly simulated Kurt Cobain’s phlegmy yowls, rocking the mic as Dave Grohl, Pat Smear and Krist Novoselic thrashed and crashed around him.—
Melissa Ruggieri,
USA TODAY,
15 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Screech.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/screech. Accessed 22 May. 2025.
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