roar
Americanverb (used without object)
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roars,
present (3rd person singular)
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roared,
past participle, past
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roaring
present participle
-
to utter a loud, deep cry or howl, as in excitement, distress, or anger.
-
to laugh loudly or boisterously.
to roar at a joke.
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to make a loud sound or din, as thunder, cannon, waves, or wind.
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to function or move with a loud, deep sound, as a vehicle.
The automobile roared away.
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to make a loud noise in breathing, as a horse.
verb (used with object)
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roars,
present (3rd person singular)
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roared,
past participle, past
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roaring
present participle
-
to utter or express in a roar.
to roar denials.
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to bring, put, make, etc., by roaring.
to roar oneself hoarse.
noun
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roars
plural
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a loud, deep cry or howl, as of an animal or a person.
the roar of a lion.
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a loud, confused, constant noise or sound; din; clamor.
the roar of the surf; the roar of lively conversation from the crowded party.
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a loud outburst.
a roar of laughter; a roar of approval from the audience.
verb
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(of lions and other animals) to utter characteristic loud growling cries
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(also tr) (of people) to utter (something) with a loud deep cry, as in anger or triumph
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to laugh in a loud hearty unrestrained manner
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(of horses) to breathe with laboured rasping sounds See roaring
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(of the wind, waves, etc) to blow or break loudly and violently, as during a storm
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(of a fire) to burn fiercely with a roaring sound
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(of a machine, gun, etc) to operate or move with a loud harsh noise
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(tr) to bring (oneself) into a certain condition by roaring
to roar oneself hoarse
noun
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a loud deep cry, uttered by a person or crowd, esp in anger or triumph
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a prolonged loud cry of certain animals, esp lions
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any similar noise made by a fire, the wind, waves, artillery, an engine, etc
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a loud unrestrained burst of laughter
Synonym Usage
See cry.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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roarsimple
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roarssimple
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have roaredperfect
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has roaredperfect
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am roaringprogressive
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are roaringprogressive
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is roaringprogressive
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have been roaringperfect progressive
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has been roaringperfect progressive
Past
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roaredsimple
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had roaredperfect
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was roaringprogressive
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were roaringprogressive
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had been roaringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of roar
before 900; Middle English roren (v.), Old English rārian; cognate with Old High German rēren to bellow
Explanation
To roar is to make a ferociously loud sound, like a lion or a tiger. If you go to a football game, you'll hear the crowd roar whenever their team scores a goal. A wild animal roars when it makes its long, full cry, and a person (or a thing) can emit a similar roar. Your boisterous uncle roars with laughter, and the frustrated substitute teacher might roar angrily at the class. Motorcycles sometimes roar down the street, and a judge might silence a courtroom when she roars, "Order!" Roar can also act as a noun, meaning the sound itself — like the roar of the crowd that drowns out your voice. Roar comes from an imitative Old English root.
Vocabulary lists containing roar
"The Secret Water"
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Yelping and Yowling: Synonyms for "Cry"
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That's the Way the Wind Blows
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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:
Because what truck buyers and muscle-car fans love more than anything, it turns out, is the rich, throaty roar of a V-8 and the vibrations it causes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
"When Japanese products first entered Europe, there was the same reaction, there were many questions," Zhang said, over the roar of engines being tested.
From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026
Needless to say, this argument doesn’t guarantee that the stock market will soon roar back.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026
Kids who grew up near those hills remember the rumble and roar of Rocketdyne testing another rocket engine and the cloudbanks of smoke from the test firings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
The manticore screamed, high and terrible, a cat’s screech more than a lion’s roar.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
As loud as the dinos may be, the audience roars even louder.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
The game, taking place in the city where Messi plays his club soccer for Inter Miami, was played in front of almost entirely Argentina die-hards, whose raucous roars shook the stadium concrete.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026
When the announcement was made that the weather threat had cleared, it was greeted by one of the biggest roars of the night.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
The result can be heard in songs like the hard-driving “Is It Real?” in which Hollywell roars about mental illness and divine intervention, while Santos coats it all in steel honey.
From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2026
Fury roars in my head, loud enough to drown out my every other thought.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
When the Eaton fire roared through the area, Gwendolyn Mathers, Tail Town’s executive director, and a group of volunteers evacuated the cats, who stayed at volunteers’ and foster cat parents’ homes for two weeks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
Canada’s economy has roared back to life, tracking the strongest growth in roughly three years with an expansion in oil and gas activity and continued recoveries in areas like manufacturing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Live Nation has also sought more growth abroad, amid signs of a slowdown in the U.S., after concerts roared back to life when pandemic restrictions lifted.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026
Flames roared through crackling pine trees on Thursday as a wildfire gained ground on the coast of southwestern France, forcing more than 20,000 tourists and residents to flee to safety.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
The sirens grew closer, until a fire engine roared past.
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
The Kospi saw its best-ever day on Friday, as the index came roaring back thanks to historical jumps in its big tech names.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
On the heels of a tech-led rebound for Wall Street and fresh optimism around the AI trade, Korea’s stock market came roaring back to life on Friday.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
Last October, a roaring blast and fire at Chevron’s El Segundo plant stayed within the refinery footprint but the noise shook the neighborhood and turned the sky sunset-orange, then smoky.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
England had hoped to keep their location secret after hundreds of Mexico supporters surrounded the base of last-32 opponents Ecuador's base, using car horns, roaring motorcycle engines and loud hailers to create a disturbance.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
There are fifty-nine military vehicles roaring into the camp to rescue them.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
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.
