- present participle of roar.
roaring
Americannoun
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the act of a person, animal, or thing that roars.
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a loud, deep cry or sound or a series of such sounds.
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Veterinary Pathology. a disease of horses, caused by respiratory obstruction or vocal cord paralysis, and characterized by loud or rough breathing sounds.
adjective
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making or causing a roar, as an animal or thunder.
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brisk or highly successful, as trade.
He did a roaring business selling watches to tourists.
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characterized by noisy, disorderly behavior; boisterous; riotous.
roaring revelry.
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complete; utter; out-and-out.
a roaring idiot; a roaring success.
adverb
adjective
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informal very brisk and profitable (esp in the phrase a roaring trade )
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the period of the Australian goldrushes
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derogatory (intensifier)
a roaring communist
adverb
noun
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a loud prolonged cry
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a debilitating breathing defect of horses characterized by rasping sounds with each breath: caused by inflammation of the respiratory tract or obstruction of the larynx Compare whistling
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of roaring
before 1000; Middle English roryng (noun, adj.), Old English rarung (noun). See roar, -ing 1, -ing 2
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.
Recessions such as the Great Depression aren’t punishment for the excess of the Roaring ’20s, but interruptions.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026
The Roaring ’20s: Driven by easy credit and an industrial build-out of new technologies like the radio and the telephone, this historic bubble peaked on Sept. 3, 1929.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 2, 2026
Researchers at Northern Arizona University's School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems are working to better understand how Roaring Springs and other cave-fed springs function.
From Science Daily • Jun. 2, 2026
“In our Roaring 2020s base case scenario, strong productivity gains will keep unit labor costs subdued in 2026,” Yardeni writes.
From Barron's • Apr. 15, 2026
Roaring down the road like the devil hisself is on their tail.
From "The Knife of Never Letting Go" by Patrick Ness
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.
