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Synonyms

crier

American  
[krahy-er] / ˈkraɪ ər /

noun

  • criers
    plural
  1. a person who cries.

  2. a court or town official who makes public announcements.

  3. a hawker.


crier British  
/ ˈkraɪə /

noun

  1. a person or animal that cries

  2. (formerly) an official who made public announcements, esp in a town or court

  3. a person who shouts advertisements about the goods he is selling

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

Etymology

Origin of crier

1250–1300; Middle English criere < Old French. See cry, -er 1

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:

“I’m not a big crier, but I just lost it.”

From The Wall Street Journal Mar. 8, 2026

He continued dance-walking down the long city block, the time-traveling Black town crier was waking up all those who would listen.

From Salon Jun. 10, 2025

Early SigAlerts had rather a small-town feel, like a town crier.

From Los Angeles Times Sep. 11, 2024

In Lisburn, events begin early with a D-Day proclamation read by a town crier from the Irish Linen Centre and Lisburn Museum at 08:00.

From BBC Jun. 5, 2024

I’m not even a crier, but now I’m spending half my life on the verge of a breakdown.

From "Leah on the Offbeat" by Becky Albertalli

Instead of caroling and ringing church bells, the most prominent sounds on Christmastide were now town criers calling: "No Christmas! No Christmas!"

From Salon Dec. 24, 2024

Fox News: It’s been said you and June Allyson were the town criers of MGM.

From Fox News Mar. 20, 2021

Meanwhile, the union jack-suited royal obsessives and self-styled town criers have been demanding information for their travel plans to the birth.

From The Guardian Apr. 18, 2019

Twitter, Facebook and other social media outlets are the town criers of our petulant, righteous age.

From Los Angeles Times Oct. 27, 2017

He found the criers with clarion voices and told them to muster the unshorn Akhaians in full assembly.

From "The Odyssey" by Homer

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