roar
Americanverb (used without object)
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roars,
present (3rd person singular)
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roared,
past participle, past
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roaring
present participle
-
to utter a loud, deep cry or howl, as in excitement, distress, or anger.
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to laugh loudly or boisterously.
to roar at a joke.
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to make a loud sound or din, as thunder, cannon, waves, or wind.
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to function or move with a loud, deep sound, as a vehicle.
The automobile roared away.
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to make a loud noise in breathing, as a horse.
verb (used with object)
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roars,
present (3rd person singular)
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roared,
past participle, past
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roaring
present participle
-
to utter or express in a roar.
to roar denials.
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to bring, put, make, etc., by roaring.
to roar oneself hoarse.
noun
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roars
plural
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a loud, deep cry or howl, as of an animal or a person.
the roar of a lion.
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a loud, confused, constant noise or sound; din; clamor.
the roar of the surf; the roar of lively conversation from the crowded party.
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a loud outburst.
a roar of laughter; a roar of approval from the audience.
verb
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(of lions and other animals) to utter characteristic loud growling cries
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(also tr) (of people) to utter (something) with a loud deep cry, as in anger or triumph
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to laugh in a loud hearty unrestrained manner
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(of horses) to breathe with laboured rasping sounds See roaring
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(of the wind, waves, etc) to blow or break loudly and violently, as during a storm
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(of a fire) to burn fiercely with a roaring sound
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(of a machine, gun, etc) to operate or move with a loud harsh noise
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(tr) to bring (oneself) into a certain condition by roaring
to roar oneself hoarse
noun
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a loud deep cry, uttered by a person or crowd, esp in anger or triumph
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a prolonged loud cry of certain animals, esp lions
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any similar noise made by a fire, the wind, waves, artillery, an engine, etc
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a loud unrestrained burst of laughter
Synonym Usage
See cry.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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roarsimple
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roarssimple
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have roaredperfect
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has roaredperfect
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am roaringprogressive
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are roaringprogressive
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is roaringprogressive
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have been roaringperfect progressive
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has been roaringperfect progressive
Past
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roaredsimple
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had roaredperfect
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was roaringprogressive
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were roaringprogressive
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had been roaringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of roar
before 900; Middle English roren (v.), Old English rārian; cognate with Old High German rēren to bellow
Explanation
To roar is to make a ferociously loud sound, like a lion or a tiger. If you go to a football game, you'll hear the crowd roar whenever their team scores a goal. A wild animal roars when it makes its long, full cry, and a person (or a thing) can emit a similar roar. Your boisterous uncle roars with laughter, and the frustrated substitute teacher might roar angrily at the class. Motorcycles sometimes roar down the street, and a judge might silence a courtroom when she roars, "Order!" Roar can also act as a noun, meaning the sound itself — like the roar of the crowd that drowns out your voice. Roar comes from an imitative Old English root.
Vocabulary lists containing roar
"The Secret Water"
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Yelping and Yowling: Synonyms for "Cry"
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That's the Way the Wind Blows
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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:
The roar of engines fills the night air in China's Chongqing city as tourists awkwardly clamber onto gleaming motorbikes and cling to muscular drivers to star in personalised videos.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
Needless to say, this argument doesn’t guarantee that the stock market will soon roar back.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026
When a shrill roar cut across the train yard a few seconds later, Bartlett promptly broke into tears.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
Kids who grew up near those hills remember the rumble and roar of Rocketdyne testing another rocket engine and the cloudbanks of smoke from the test firings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
Whether he heard her over the roar and crackle of the fire, Akira didn’t know, but she thought he understood.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
Exactly 60 years after Williams’ induction speech on the steps of the Hall of Fame, Baker walked into the Hall and was greeted by the loud roars of another Boston Red Sox legend, David Ortiz.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
The game, taking place in the city where Messi plays his club soccer for Inter Miami, was played in front of almost entirely Argentina die-hards, whose raucous roars shook the stadium concrete.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026
Lucy Matthews drives a 1994 Jeep Wrangler that doesn’t have air conditioning, roars as loud as a tractor and absolutely guzzles gasoline.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
She was quick to voice her frustration as her performance dropped off, throwing her arms up, letting out guttural roars and unleashing her fury on her team.
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026
The roars grew louder as they headed straight for our mound.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
When the Eaton fire roared through the area, Gwendolyn Mathers, Tail Town’s executive director, and a group of volunteers evacuated the cats, who stayed at volunteers’ and foster cat parents’ homes for two weeks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
After seizing control in the first-set tiebreaker, Fritz roared to a 3-0 lead with a pair of service breaks in the second.
From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026
OTTAWA—Canada’s economy has roared back to life, tracking the strongest growth in roughly three years with an expansion in oil and gas activity and continued recoveries in areas like manufacturing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Live Nation has also sought more growth abroad, amid signs of a slowdown in the U.S., after concerts roared back to life when pandemic restrictions lifted.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026
“All right, all you bodacious babies, terrific toddlers, glorious grade schoolers, magnificent middle schoolers, and tremendous teens, let me hear you!” the emcee said, and the audience roared.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
"It is not little kitchens and pots boiling away, mimsy little things being placed on plates. He is cooking with fire... he stands there in his leather apron and it's roaring like fireworks," Coren said.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
On the heels of a tech-led rebound for Wall Street and fresh optimism around the AI trade, Korea’s stock market came roaring back to life on Friday.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
Early calm gave way to stomach-churning moves late in the week that saw oil prices roaring above $100 a barrel and an $890 billion wipeout in the market value of the Magnificent Seven tech behemoths.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
But there wasn’t anything quite like the experience of stepping out in front of the roaring crowd.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026
It was clear it was just pausing for a couple of minutes before roaring away.
From "Firegirl" by Tony Abbott
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.
