cackle
Americanverb (used without object)
-
cackles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
cackled,
past participle, past
-
cackling
present participle
-
to utter a shrill, broken sound or cry, as of a hen.
-
to laugh in a shrill, broken manner.
-
to chatter noisily; prattle.
verb (used with object)
-
cackles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
cackled,
past participle, past
-
cackling
present participle
noun
-
cackles
plural
-
the act or sound of cackling.
-
chatter; idle talk.
verb
-
(intr) (esp of a hen) to squawk with shrill notes
-
(intr) to laugh or chatter raucously
-
(tr) to utter in a cackling manner
noun
-
the noise or act of cackling
-
noisy chatter
-
informal to stop chattering; be quiet
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
cacklesimple
-
cacklessimple
-
have cackledperfect
-
has cackledperfect
-
am cacklingprogressive
-
are cacklingprogressive
-
is cacklingprogressive
-
have been cacklingperfect progressive
-
has been cacklingperfect progressive
Past
-
cackledsimple
-
had cackledperfect
-
was cacklingprogressive
-
were cacklingprogressive
-
had been cacklingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of cackle
1175–1225; Middle English cakelen; cognate with Dutch kakelen, Low German kakeln, Swedish kackla
Explanation
To cackle is to laugh in a loud, harsh way. Your dad's jokes might be so bad that they're funny, making you cackle every time. When you cackle, people hear you — it's annoying to sit in an otherwise quiet restaurant beside a table of people who talk and cackle raucously. The sound the cacklers make can also be called a cackle, a squawking laugh that a chicken might make. Experts think there may be a connection between cackle and the Middle Dutch word for "jaw," kake, but it's most likely to be imitative, a word that sounds just like the noise it describes.
Vocabulary lists containing cackle
The Crossover
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"The Moustache" and "Who We Really Are"
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Ungifted
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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:
"His laugh was outrageously infectious. We all used to call it a cackle."
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
Manning’s press conference cackle was followed by the cackles of adults in the room, including reporters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
“I’m dipping nuggets you’ve never heard of into sources you could never understand,” she declares bluntly, causing us to cackle out of sheer surprise.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
If you don't know her, you're likely to know her famous cackle which has become her trademark.
From BBC ● Nov. 13, 2025
We’d cackle until our ribs hurt, imagining our prim, professorial uncle meeting Dad’s unruly crew.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
Manning’s press conference cackle was followed by the cackles of adults in the room, including reporters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Her performance presents as camp, but her dynamic range of loud cackles and quiet glances is fabulous.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
The red-headed fairy cackles, “Your hard work didn’t pay off!”
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2025
With each taunt, the room filled with cackles from my teammates.
From Salon ● Sep. 22, 2024
The girls sensed their immunity and their laughter grew louder, into cackles of hilarity and derision.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
A troupe of local performers enacted boxing and wrestling matches as the crowd cackled.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
I laid on the couch and cackled like an idiot while my friends took no prisoners.
From Slate ● Jun. 26, 2025
As the people with microphones and notebooks pushed and shoved in a hot and muggy hallway--”We don’t air-condition the corridors in this county,” cackled one old observer--it suddenly became apparent.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2025
They cackled at a video showing a troop of mischievous baboons ripping up ruling party election posters with the face of the president on them.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 18, 2023
"That's how it would seem, dearie," and the old woman cackled and hooted with delight.
From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman
Many plays and musicals are supposed to draw chuckles, but theatergoers today are cackling like they’re at a comedy show.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 9, 2026
Those stereotypes might bring to mind images of black hats, broomsticks and cackling over cauldrons, common in much media.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2025
Instead, the album is L.A. party rap run through a buzzsaw of regret and dread and cackling humor and utterly fresh musicality.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 17, 2024
Squibb has played plenty of cackling grannies; even so, Ms. Sturak is her most unhinged.
From New York Times ● Apr. 11, 2024
His ears shrank from the bedlam of singing, cackling, and giggling that was going on behind the closed black patent leather shutters.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
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