exclamation

American  

[ek-skluh-may-shuhn] / ˌɛk skləˈmeɪ ʃən /

noun

• exclamations
  plural

1. the act of exclaiming; outcry; loud complaint or protest.

   The speech was continually interrupted by rude exclamations.

   Synonyms:

   vociferation, ejaculation, cry

2. an interjection.

3. Rhetoric. ecphonesis.

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exclamation British  

/ ˌɛkskləˈmeɪʃən /

noun

1. an abrupt, emphatic, or excited cry or utterance; interjection; ejaculation

2. the act of exclaiming

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• exclamational
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• exclamations
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of exclamation

1350–1400; Middle English exclamacio ( u ) n < Latin exclāmātiōn- (stem of exclāmātiō ) a calling out, equivalent to exclāmāt ( us ) (past participle of exclāmāre; see exclaim) + -iōn- -ion

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Explanation

If you need a word to call other "words" like "Yay!" or "Rats!", then exclamation is your word. An exclamation is usually followed by an exclamation point. Go Figure. The shocked cry you made when your friends jumped out and yelled, "Surprise!" at your birthday party? You could call both your yelp and their "Surprise!" exclamations. The Latin word exclamare, or "cry out loud," is at the root of the noun exclamation. An exclamation doesn't need to be a literal "cry," though — it can be a surprised "Wow!" or an angry "No!" Anything you say with abrupt excitement, pain, fear, or anger is an exclamation.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

exclamation exclamations

And as the game wore on, the gulf between the two sides became more evident, with England running in three tries in the final minutes to put an exclamation point on their win.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

The sighting of the extremely venomous viper, which has the longest fangs of any snake in the world, spurred the Santa Ana Police Department to issue a public advisory accompanied by exclamation points.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026

I once consulted three different large language models about whether to use an exclamation point in a coffee chat request.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

Five friends lined up next to one another, their chests painted red, each with a different character in white: S, E, L, L and an exclamation point.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2026

Cassiopeia yapped in excitement, and then poked Beowulf, for her exclamation had sounded rather like his name.

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood

“The fake niceness in mom chats, the smiley faces and exclamations, is reputation management,” says Santorelli.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026

The silver mechanical creature then starts thrashing around violently, to gasps and exclamations from spectators at the installation, designed to probe humanity's relationship with increasingly realistic machines.

From Barron's ● Jan. 30, 2026

There will be no exclamations of “Yippee-ki-yay” and you know what because this is still Hallmark, but the network has stepped up its action/adventure offerings.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 18, 2024

As they listened to celebratory speeches, the audience erupted into joyful exclamations: "Mercy!"

From Salon ● Aug. 13, 2024

There was a brief scattering of applause mixed in with exclamations of disbelief.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

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