sounding off

verb

present participle of sound off
1
as in speaking out
to voice one's opinions freely with force she never missed a chance to sound off about the latest "stupid" political decisions

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in shouting
to speak so as to be heard at a distance the guard captain commanded each sentry to sound off

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 sounding off Elaine Hendrix is sounding off about Tuesday’s shocking elimination on Dancing With the Stars season 35. — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 24 Sep. 2026 Vocalization increases, with more bulls sounding off as the rut approaches; the peak is generally considered to be the last two weeks of September. — Jim Zumbo, Outdoor Life, 10 Sep. 2026 Influencers like Paige Paul (née Lorenze) have been sounding off in Four Winds Craft Guild’s comments, trying to frame the argument as a feminist one. — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 29 July 2026 His inconsistencies were glaring, sounding off alarm bells about whether Drury had made a miscalculation. — Vincent Z. Mercogliano, New York Times, 21 July 2026 From there on the two teams looked to find ways to generate offense but the bats were not sounding off. — Mukala Kabongo, Boston Herald, 14 June 2026 The university, its athletic department and anyone associated with it haven't done the Red Raiders and their quarterback any favors, either, with people like head coach Joey Maguire and billionaire booster Cody Campbell sounding off on the issue and only angering fans further. — Austin Perry Outkick, FOXNews.com, 12 June 2026 Mike Florio and Charean Williams discuss Knicks head coach Mike Brown sounding off on the officiating during Game 3, when the Spurs attempted 24 free throws to New York’s eight in the second half. — Andrew Greif, NBC news, 11 June 2026 Coachella Weekend 1 concluded with a historic performance by the festival’s first Latina headliner Karol G and now, attendees are sounding off online about their experiences and offering advice to Weekend 2 festivalgoers. — Andrea Domanick, Los Angeles Times, 26 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sounding off
  1. speaking out
  2. shouting
  3. speaking up
  4. yelling
  5. talking up
  6. crying
  7. piping up
  8. calling
Verb
  • This changes the attention from the antisemitic conduct to the motives of the people speaking out.
    — Kenneth L. Marcus, New York Daily News, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Hannah Einbinder is speaking out after being detained at a protest against Benjamin Netanyahu in New York on Thursday.
    — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of speaking out
Verb
  • The two of them spent the rest of the night pressed together in the crowded bar, shouting at each other to be heard over the sound of drunk youth.
    — Josephine Reisman, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2026
  • Kelce said lovingly before shouting out how quickly and thoroughly Swift picked up all there is to know about his sport.
    — Mitchell Peters, Billboard, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of shouting
Verb
  • But together with his mother, Alison, the 22-year-old has found a calling in speaking up for people with disabilities in Tallahassee.
    — Justin Garcia, Miami Herald, 28 Sep. 2026
  • And there are so many more that have stayed silent because people out there have told them not to speak up, who have scared them into not speaking up.
    — Jackson Thompson OutKick, FOXNews.com, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of speaking up
Verb
  • But instead of formulating a plan, the suit argued, the officers began yelling at him.
    — Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times, 24 Sep. 2026
  • Broadrick has said that Godflesh’s forthcoming final album, The End, will be more avant-garde — no yelling necessary.
    — Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of yelling
Verb
  • Jensen Huang has been talking up the importance of fostering a rich open source ecosystem.
    — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 3 Sep. 2026
  • The telco is talking up the simplicity of its new offering, but with a lot of talk of a ‘cost of living crisis’ in the UK, a lot will also come down to pricing versus a traditional pay TV service, or paying for streaming services individually.
    — Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of talking up
Verb
  • The investigation began May 4, 2025, when the city of Riverside officials received reports of a baby crying inside a dumpster.
    — Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2026
  • This audience listened in awed silence, and by the end of the song, everyone around us was crying as well, before jolting upward in a spontaneous standing ovation — one of three.
    — James Gunn, Rolling Stone, 27 Sep. 2026
Definition of crying
Verb
  • When a small raptor center in Southern California began caring for the most famous bald eagle on Earth, the keyboard veterinarians started piping up.
    — Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Younger Republican voters and GOP contrarians are piping up to challenge the broad consensus in the Republican Party that has been in lockstep with policy on Israel.
    — Kristina Karisch, The Hill, 19 Aug. 2025
Definition of piping up
Verb
  • Whatever the underlying reason, calling the problem by its name — gently recognizing the caregiver is struggling — adds a sense of agency and the strength to keep going.
    — Alicja Turczyk, The Dial, 29 Sep. 2026
  • To get the coach's side of the story, CBS News Detroit tried calling her, reaching out to her on social media, knocking on her door and writing her a letter.
    — Julia Avant, CBS News, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of calling

Browse Nearby Words

sounding boards
sounding off
sounding (out)
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Sounding off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sounding%20off. Accessed 4 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 2

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All