croon
Americanverb (used without object)
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croons,
present (3rd person singular)
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crooned,
past participle, past
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crooning
present participle
verb (used with object)
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croons,
present (3rd person singular)
-
crooned,
past participle, past
-
crooning
present participle
-
to sing (a song) in a crooning manner.
-
to lull by singing or humming to in a soft, soothing voice.
to croon a child to sleep.
noun
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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croonsimple
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croonssimple
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have croonedperfect
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has croonedperfect
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am crooningprogressive
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are crooningprogressive
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is crooningprogressive
-
have been crooningperfect progressive
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has been crooningperfect progressive
Past
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croonedsimple
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had croonedperfect
-
was crooningprogressive
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were crooningprogressive
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had been crooningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of croon
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English cronen, from Middle Dutch: “to lament”
Explanation
To croon is to sing a soft or emotional song. A father might croon a lullaby to his baby as she falls asleep. Elvis Presley was known to croon to the ladies. The verb croon is originally a Scottish word, from the Middle Dutch root kronen, "to lament or mourn." When you croon, you hum or sing in a soft, low voice, like your heart is breaking. You might croon to your child or sweetheart, or maybe you croon in the shower. In the 1930s and 40s, a "crooner" was a singer who was known for specializing in sentimental jazz songs.
Vocabulary lists containing croon
"The People Could Fly," Vocabulary from the folk tale
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The Devil's Arithmetic
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"The Weary Blues" by Langston Hughes
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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:
In the opening track “Lugares,” Selines meets her acoustic guitar strumming with a velvety croon, singing of leaping into the unknown — despite understanding the difficulties that will come from leaving home.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
Kuo would croon standards like “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
Hearing Nat King Cole croon about chestnuts roasting on an open fire dozens of times is one of the many reminders that fireplaces are luxuries most of us don’t have.
From Salon ● Dec. 18, 2025
More recent interpreters underline the song’s vast reach, from Harolyn Blackwell’s operatic radiance and Norah Jones’s hushed Tanglewood version to Kenny Barron’s pensive piano meditation and Willie Nelson’s weathered country croon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025
As dangerous as the Chimaera, and as rare, the Manticore is reputed to croon softly as it devours its prey.
From "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by J.K. Rowling
Her story: Parton’s greatest contribution to the movie might have been its title—and the song she wrote for it, in which she croons about grabbing herself a “cup of ambition.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
The eight-minute “Actress” is an aural trip that croons of a lazy wannabe-actress, before it climbs to rocking, triumphal heights with a soaring string section.
From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2026
Now, as I ride through Koreatown, Alicia Keys croons, “Everything’s gonna be all right.”
From Slate ● May 10, 2026
Later, on the acoustic guitar ballad If You Ever Change Your Mind, he croons, "I love you, I love you," with a quiet sincerity rarely found in a pop record.
From BBC ● Jan. 21, 2025
He puts a hand over his heart and croons the first verse.
From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon
The wholesome Rodgers and Hammerstein tunes have been taught in classrooms, crooned in karaoke bars and used in U.S.-China diplomacy for decades.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
Diplomatic wheels, it seemed, were in motion, even as the lack of detail left many around the world with suspicious minds, as Elvis once crooned.
From BBC ● Mar. 23, 2026
As I crooned “I’ll Never Get Out of this World Alive” along with Hank Williams, I added a little yodel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 4, 2025
TVs across the state blared what became known as the “banjo ad,” in which a country singer crooned that Newby would bring “justice tough but fair.”
From Salon ● Oct. 31, 2025
“Ach du Liebchen,” crooned Seigler, hands clasped prayerfully, “she should wear it in good health.”
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
For many, the waterfront that Lebanese singer Fairouz immortalised in 1961 -- crooning about "the coast of Alexandria, coast of love" -- is no more.
From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026
The label is fitting in part on a literal level because Gunn ends his movie on Superman’s smiling face with the song “Punkrocker,” which features Iggy Pop crooning, “I’m a punkrocker, yes I am.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 7, 2026
No amount of Kate Bush’s heroic crooning will save them.
From Salon ● Nov. 24, 2025
The tour comes hot on the heels of Gaga's latest album, Mayhem, widely regarded as a return to high-concept pop after a spell of method acting and jazz crooning.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2025
He starts crooning, “Caterpillar, caterpillar, can you find my caterpillar?”
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
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.
