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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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
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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This is why all the whining and complaining from small market teams across the sport is manipulative nonsense.— Ian Miller OutKick, FOXNews.com, 17 Apr. 2026
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There was crying, complaining, dissociating and even laughing on those couches.— Wendy C. Ortiz, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2026
Verb
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By the fourth quarter, this game was over, leaving it to Kennard to send the crowd howling into the night by supplying three fourth-quarter treys on three attempts and making a Game 1 MVP out of Rob Pelinka.— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 19 Apr. 2026
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Elsewhere, Paula Rego’s two self portraits from 2017 show the artist howling through expressive pastel strokes.— Leah Dolan, CNN Money, 2 Apr. 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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On the Sonora stage Sunday, the 22-year-old Newark rapper-producer who arrived at the current screaming catharsis via a circuit of molting SoundCloud-era microgenres was at once dangerously commanding and euphoric while tearing through highlights from last year’s Revengeseekerz.— Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 21 Apr. 2026
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The pressures of fame and the pains of Michael’s brand of friendlessness are barely explored, beyond the requisite scenes of screaming fans crowding outside the family estate and a terrified Michael attempting to get away from them (while still politely waving).— Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 21 Apr. 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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On the other end, the Rockets were a complete mess, dissolving in two whining technical fouls in the third quarter that sealed their fate.— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 19 Apr. 2026
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This is why all the whining and complaining from small market teams across the sport is manipulative nonsense.— Ian Miller OutKick, FOXNews.com, 17 Apr. 2026
Verb
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But a male voice could be heard moaning in the background.— Tim Stelloh, NBC news, 3 Apr. 2026
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One minute later, Pedro Neto was yellow-carded for moaning.— Matt Slater, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Keening.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.grautoblog.com/thesaurus/keening. Accessed 24 Apr. 2026.
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