WAILING Synonyms: 207 Similar and Opposite Words

wailing 1 of 2

adjective

as in weeping

expressing or suggesting mourning a wailing quality in her voice that makes her a natural for country music

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

wailing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of wail

as in screaming

to express dissatisfaction, pain, or resentment usually tiresomely the state's residents are always wailing about their high taxes

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in howling

to make a long loud mournful sound the women stood beside the coffins, wailing for their fallen sons and daughters

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in moaning

to utter a moan the patient lay in her bed, occasionally softly wailing in pain

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 wailing

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

Verb

The bold clarity of the performances was energizing, but the wailing sometimes sounded like parody grief. — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2026 Except kids being kids, my son would keep needling and my daughter would keep wailing. — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 9 Sep. 2026 Osama, donning his bulletproof blue press jacket and armed with his camera, is accosted by a woman wailing that 200 of her neighbors are gone. — Ritesh Mehta, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2026 When the coroner’s deputy lifted Malachi’s body to take it away that night in October 2023, there was no wailing or sobbing from his parents. — Audrey Dutton, ProPublica, 25 Aug. 2026 This Lusitania didn’t sink as a formal band played, but the ticking of each man’s pocket watch synchronized to form a furious percussion section, and all those wailing women’s voices layered into girl-group harmonies. — Claire Carusillo, Harpers Magazine, 4 Aug. 2026 Instead of wailing in agony after sampling the vengefully spiked bird, Prince fell in love with it and founded the BBQ Chicken Shack in 1945. — Ellen Fort, Bon Appetit Magazine, 31 July 2026 Added to the mix is Ian Stewart, the Stones’ longtime road manager, playing piano in boogie-woogie style, plus a wailing sax solo by Bobby Keys. — René Ostberg, Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 July 2026 My mom still talks about the 16-year-old girl in the hospital bed next to me wailing after a similar surgery. — Rebekah Taussig, Time, 7 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for wailing

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

At the same time, Plog placed a phone call to a relative and can be heard moaning and screaming in pain.

— Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 18 Sep. 2026
Amazon doesn’t have to worry about affiliates screaming if the show bleeds into their late local newscasts, nor FCC overlord Brendan Carr having a meltdown over an unbleeped John Mulaney bit.

— Josef Adalian, Vulture, 17 Sep. 2026

Definition of screaming

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

Verb

At the same time, Plog placed a phone call to a relative and can be heard moaning and screaming in pain.

— Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 18 Sep. 2026
Hall wrote in his report that Hamilton lay down in the backseat of the police vehicle, moaning and not responding, prompting first responders to give him Narcan.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 14 Aug. 2026

Definition of moaning

Adjective

Tender Loving Care is a gentle, mournful, funny portrait of a family whose future is shadowed by uncertainty but tries to face life with cheeriness.

— Joe Reid, Vulture, 10 Sep. 2026
Part of it was the circumstances of his death and the mournful public procession through Brooklyn.

— Jeff Weiss, HollywoodReporter, 1 Sep. 2026

Definition of mournful

Verb

Patience is the ability to remain calm and accept delays, difficulties, or annoyance without complaining or becoming angry.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 19 Sep. 2026
The charges were dismissed on Thursday, according to court records, after the complaining witness failed to appear.

— Karma Sabbah, CBS News, 18 Sep. 2026

Definition of complaining

Verb

Whatever the result, Sunday’s election in the state of Saxony-Anhalt is a clear signal flare that the foundations of modern Germany are groaning.

— Mark Sappenfield, Christian Science Monitor, 4 Sep. 2026
More than 200 walruses were hauled out on the beach, grunting and groaning, wriggling and jostling for position.

— Sarah Kingdom, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026

Definition of groaning

Adjective

To Diana, who has taken over First Desk at the Park after last season’s events, River’s refusal to take bereavement leave gives her license to speak about his grandfather’s funeral arrangements with her usual cool formality.

— Scott Tobias, Vulture, 16 Sep. 2026
According to the organizer of a fundraiser set up to cover funeral costs and medical expenses, the girl's aunt suffered a broken neck, skull fracture, and dislocated discs.

— Joan Murray, CBS News, 14 Sep. 2026