howling

[ hou-ling ]

adjective

1. producing or uttering a howling noise:

   a howling mob.

2. desolate, dismal, or dreary:

   a howling wilderness.

3. Informal. very great; tremendous:

   a howling success.

howling

/ ˈhaʊlɪŋ /

adjective

1. informal.
   prenominal (intensifier)

   a howling success

   a howling error

Derived Forms

• ˈhowlingly, adverb

Other Words From

• howling·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of howling¹

1250–1300; Middle English houlinge (gerund); howl, -ing ²

Example Sentences

That morning, the howling grew louder, and the rain came harder.

From ProPublica

I watched as another officer pulled Otto’s stuffed dinosaur, Puppy, out of his toddler clutches so they could scan its fluffy body, and even after my family was out of sight, I could still hear Otto’s howling.

From Time

But few things inspire more howling from writers than that post-publication Bataan death march known as the book tour.

From The Daily Beast

I had expected Alaska to be miserably cold, with howling winds and fierce storms.

From The Daily Beast

Conservative groups spent Tuesday howling at Boehner's betrayal.

From The Daily Beast

After all, a number of writers are howling about it and it clearly serves as an obstacle in the current era of voting.

From The Daily Beast

Then, she gets on the hood of his Ferrari, hikes up her skirt, and… grinds on it to completion, howling with ecstasy.

From The Daily Beast

The falling dew, and the howling wind raised him not from that bed of lonely despair.

From Project Gutenberg

A fearsome thunderstorm or howling tornado of dust might reveal her fickleness of mood at any moment.

From Project Gutenberg

And with that the host gave him such a kick as sent him howling into the street, amidst the roars of the company.

From Project Gutenberg

The wind is howling, and the rain is pelting against the parlour windows of the Banking-house, whose blinds are drawn close down.

From Project Gutenberg

For the cry is gone round about the border of Moab: the howling thereof unto Gallim, and unto the well of Elim the cry thereof.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• amusement
• chuckle
• giggle
• glee
• guffaw
• hilarity
• laugh
• mirth
• roar
• shout
• shriek
• snicker