shriek
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
Synonym Usage
See scream.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
shrieksimple
-
shriekssimple
-
have shriekedperfect
-
has shriekedperfect
-
am shriekingprogressive
-
are shriekingprogressive
-
is shriekingprogressive
-
have been shriekingperfect progressive
-
has been shriekingperfect progressive
Past
-
shriekedsimple
-
had shriekedperfect
-
was shriekingprogressive
-
were shriekingprogressive
-
had been shriekingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of shriek
First recorded in 1560–70; earlier shrick, northern variant of shritch (now dialect), Middle English schrichen, back formation from Old English scriccettan; akin to shrike
Explanation
A high-pitched, piercing cry is a shriek. A common response to finding a snake curled in the silverware drawer would be to shriek. You can shriek in fear, surprise, or even shriek with laughter. If the sound you make is high, sharp, and loud, it's a shriek. A teenager who sees her favorite movie star might shriek, "Look who it is!" And, little kids in an inflatable bouncy house will very likely shriek with delight. The word shriek sounds very much like what it means, and its Old Norse root skrækja, "to screech," may have originated for that very reason.
Vocabulary lists containing shriek
Instead of "Said": Words For Sad Speech
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"Charlotte's Web": Chapter One
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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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:
Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce was being interviewed on national broadcaster ABC on Monday night when he interrupted the one-on-one to shriek "sit down!"
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
She sang open-throated declarations, recited broken poetic verses, scatted with the authority of a jazz singer, moaned with bluesy intent, and occasionally let loose an unbridled shriek or giggle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 4, 2026
There is a delighted shriek as Rui dangles mid-air, before she starts rappelling down.
From BBC ● Nov. 22, 2024
There were cheers in Park Slope, and one Slate reporter saw a woman look at her phone, read the verdict, and shriek, “Sometimes good things do happen!”
From Slate ● May 30, 2024
Even through the shriek of the wind, I could hear his chuckle.
From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson
Occasionally Mr. Paul’s violin swoons and shrieks in a manner we associate with the instrument, but he’s just as likely to use it as a starting point for an electronic drone.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
When the congregation responds with rhythmic panting that slowly builds to shrieks of grief and passion, Ann finally feels at home — the burdens she’s been carrying all her life, cast into the ether.
From Salon ● Dec. 27, 2025
"Celia shrieks strangely," read one, while another said: "They repeat the wail."
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2025
Shakespeare’s play assumes the shrieks and shrill cries of a B-movie.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2025
“Oh, but I’m a mess. And just look at my stockings!” she shrieks, pointing at her shoeless feet.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
I normally think about what could go wrong, and I’ve cried out that we’re heading toward a dystopia more times than Chicken Little shrieked about the sky falling.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
"How do you think I feel?... He set me up," he shrieked.
From BBC ● Jan. 10, 2026
At the second smaller stage, dancers shrieked as confetti cannons fired simultaneously with a bass drop, glitter falling like shimmering rain.
From Barron's ● Nov. 23, 2025
He sang Beatles songs in perfect pitch and shrieked in glee whenever a lighthouse came into view.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 31, 2023
Bess and George pulled out their own invitations and shrieked.
From "Sleepover Sleuths: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #1" by Carolyn Keene
The course record is 39 seconds and change, set by the shrieking McMurtry Spéirling hypercar.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
She watched intently perched on a bench at the very front of the room, at times shrieking and nudging her sister as she pointed at the cafe’s new large flat-screen that loomed overhead.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
The second pilot meets their passengers’ fear with hysteria, shrieking, outburst—that pilot shames their passengers, saying, “I can’t do my job because of YOU.”
From Slate ● May 10, 2026
I’ll pause here for general gasping and shrieking, and murmurs of, “Wait, there’s a dividend?”
From Barron's ● Nov. 21, 2025
The other monkeys started shrieking too, and I leaped onto a lower branch, almost falling, my heart thumping like a pounding drum.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
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.
