scream
Americanverb (used without object)
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screams,
present (3rd person singular)
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screamed,
past participle, past
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screaming
present participle
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to utter a loud, sharp, piercing cry.
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to emit a shrill, piercing sound.
The sirens and whistles screamed.
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to laugh immoderately or uncontrollably.
The comedian had the audience screaming.
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to shout or speak shrilly, especially with harsh or exaggerated words.
They screamed across the back fence.
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to play or sing in a high, loud, harsh manner.
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to be conspicuous or startling.
That red dress really screams.
verb (used with object)
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screams,
present (3rd person singular)
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screamed,
past participle, past
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screaming
present participle
-
to utter with or as if with a loud, piercing cry.
His patience exhausted, he screamed the instructions to the class.
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to bring (oneself) to a specified condition by loud and shrill shouts or cries.
We screamed ourselves hoarse at the concert.
verb
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to utter or emit (a sharp piercing cry or similar sound or sounds), esp as of fear, pain, etc
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(intr) to laugh wildly
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(intr) to speak, shout, or behave in a wild or impassioned manner
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(tr) to bring (oneself) into a specified state by screaming
she screamed herself hoarse
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(intr) to be extremely conspicuous
these orange curtains scream, you need more restful colours in a bedroom
noun
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a sharp piercing cry or sound, esp one denoting fear or pain
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informal a person or thing that causes great amusement
Synonym Usage
Scream, shriek, screech apply to crying out in a loud, piercing way. To scream is to utter a loud, piercing cry, especially of pain, fear, anger, or excitement: to scream with terror. The word is used also for a little, barely audible cry given by one who is startled. Shriek usually refers to a sharper and briefer cry than scream; when caused by fear or pain, it is often indicative of more terror or distress; shriek is also used for shrill uncontrolled cries: to shriek with laughter. Screech emphasizes disagreeable shrillness and harshness, often with a connotation of lack of dignity: to screech approval at a rock concert.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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screamsimple
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screamssimple
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have screamedperfect
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has screamedperfect
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am screamingprogressive
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are screamingprogressive
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is screamingprogressive
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have been screamingperfect progressive
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has been screamingperfect progressive
Past
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screamedsimple
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had screamedperfect
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was screamingprogressive
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were screamingprogressive
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had been screamingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of scream
First recorded in 1150–1200; 1905–10 scream for def. 11; Middle English screamen (verb), (unattested) Old English scrǣman; akin to Old Norse skraumi “chatterbox, braggart,” skruma “to jabber”; sc- (for regular sh- as in Middle English shreame ) from obsolete scritch “to screech” ( see screech
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Zhang Xue wept with joy and furiously waved a Chinese flag as he watched his company's superbike scream across the finish line four seconds ahead of competitors in only its third world championship race.
From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026
"We had a scream together, she was so much fun, and it's a great loss, and it made me feel very sad to hear the news."
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
Install hockey play-by-play announcers who emphasize the rising action, then scream “goal!”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026
The first thing the 1,000 men and women of the United States Naval Academy do, after hearing the artillery fire, is scream, tear off their shirts, and charge toward me.
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026
I just stand there, shivering with the amount of effort it’s taking for me to not scream or cry or both.
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
“Outer Banks” is aggressively meh, and there’s not much else that screams to be watched this month.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
In one sense, it screams Seven Deadly Sins—he gave in to his pride.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Tied to the mast of his ship as he and his crew pass the singing sirens, adorned on the jagged rocks at sea, Odysseus screams out with pain and desire.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
It screams as arms bearing the Japanese and US flags shove it onto a rickety karaoke stage set up in a boat.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
She looked from me back up to where shrieks and screams and stomps rattled the ceiling.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
In response to an image of the rodent working on a laptop in a preschool classroom, one user commented: “Amelia has just screamed in excitement that it’s in the class.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Related: ‘I’ve yelled, screamed and cried’: My mother gave $400K to online scammers.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
"I turned to everyone and screamed, 'my daughter is alive'," said Karina.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
Somebody else might have made a stand, kicked and screamed, said, “If they go, I go. ”
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
Phillip screamed over the wind at Jack, then began moving on, forcing Jack to keep up.
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
In Greenwich, some people got up from their picnics as the "dust devil" moved across the park, with some even heard screaming.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
They’re blindly screaming their heads off, bolstered by the person who stopped molding herself in someone else’s image, who refused to cater to how the world or the industry thought she should appear.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
“Then the guitar took two screaming solos. I just thought, ‘This is where I belong.’”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
A man who lived in the neighborhood, Sean Stanek, would recall a pale, “whacked-out” Blake pounding on his door and screaming, “You’ve gotta help me!”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
He mocked every bird in the Ozark hills; from a redheaded woodpecker to a screaming blue jay.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
