blare
Americanverb (used without object)
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blares,
present (3rd person singular)
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blared,
past participle, past
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blaring
present participle
verb (used with object)
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blares,
present (3rd person singular)
-
blared,
past participle, past
-
blaring
present participle
noun
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blares
plural
-
a loud, raucous noise.
The blare of the band made conversation impossible.
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glaring intensity of light or color.
A blare of sunlight flooded the room as she opened the shutters.
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fanfare; flourish; ostentation; flamboyance.
a new breakfast cereal proclaimed with all the blare of a Hollywood spectacle.
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Eastern New England. the bawl of a calf.
verb
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to sound loudly and harshly
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to proclaim loudly and sensationally
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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blaresimple
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blaressimple
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have blaredperfect
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has blaredperfect
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am blaringprogressive
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are blaringprogressive
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is blaringprogressive
-
have been blaringperfect progressive
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has been blaringperfect progressive
Past
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blaredsimple
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had blaredperfect
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was blaringprogressive
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were blaringprogressive
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had been blaringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of blare
1400–50; late Middle English bleren; akin to Middle Dutch blaren, Middle Low German blarren, Middle High German blerren ( German plärren )
Explanation
To blare means to crank up the volume — really LOUDly. Blare is what you do with your dance music if you want your neighbors to hate you. The verb blare has ties to the Middle Dutch word bleren, meaning "to bleat, cry, bawl, shout." Blare describes a loud, harsh, unpleasant sound, something you associate with car horns on a busy city street at rush hour, sirens on a police car, or even music played at an unnecessarily high volume. A club is allowed to blare its dance music. But if you blare music at home? Your neighbors would probably consider that too loud.
Vocabulary lists containing blare
The Diary of Anne Frank
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "B"
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The Poet X
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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:
Guy Berman, a 28-year-old Israeli student, waited out the blare of air-raid sirens before boarding a recent flight to Cyprus.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026
The noise is deafening: Horns blare, whistles pierce the piercing cold.
From Slate ● Feb. 11, 2026
A severity descriptor on that alert sent it to weather radios and the nation’s Wireless Emergency Alerts system, which blasts weather warnings to cellphones to blare an alarm.
From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2025
Of course a souped-up smart sports car will blare the theme music from “Knight Rider.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2025
When we hit the half-mile mark, I hear Gabrielle’s phone blare what sounds like a fire alarm.
From "Shine!" by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein
Cumbia music -- Maradona's favorite genre -- blares from speakers.
From Barron's ● Apr. 14, 2026
Loud pop and rock music blares down the entire block, punctuated by the odd cheer and whoop from spectators.
From BBC ● Feb. 20, 2026
“This story promises to have the happiest ending you will ever hear,” blares a propaganda loudspeaker, one of the novel’s narrators.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 17, 2026
David Bowie’s “Nite Flights,” a Walker Brothers song featured on the late legend’s 1993 album “Black Tie White Noise,” blares from the speakers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2025
I pause and rewind to the beginning, turning the iPad to myself The intro blares out again, a mix of drumming and a man’s deep voice saying something in Arabic.
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
Volunteers handed out food and water, patriotic songs blared from loudspeakers and organisers repeatedly urged supporters not to confront police if they were stopped.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
Sirens blared, horns honked, and church bells pealed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
"Is Netanyahu real or AI?" an internet headline blared, pointing to a video that supposedly showed the Israeli prime minister with six fingers.
From Barron's ● Apr. 2, 2026
Reggaeton and banda music blared from the stores while I stocked up on the essentials: gold hoops, baseball hats and workwear to set me up in my new life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2026
Kwaito, a South African mix of hip-hop and house music, blared from cars that passed us.
From "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates" by Wes Moore
And when I consider airports, I blot the memory of the woman next to me at Gate 66 who insists on blaring a video call at maximum volume.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
"Paris, Paris" chanted supporters, many of them young, as they filtered through security checkpoints and tried to get spots near a stage where the players would appear, songs like "We Are the Champions" blaring.
From Barron's ● May 31, 2026
He liked to play loudly, for many hours at a time, improvising ceaseless and whipsawing sagas of frenetic melodies and emphatic blaring and screeching—it was a whole lot of sound.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026
England have been training with crowd noise and music blaring out of speakers to prepare.
From BBC ● May 16, 2026
Across the mining station, alarms were blaring and lights were flashing red.
From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown
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.
