- present participle of roar.
roaring
Americannoun
-
the act of a person, animal, or thing that roars.
-
a loud, deep cry or sound or a series of such sounds.
-
Veterinary Pathology. a disease of horses, caused by respiratory obstruction or vocal cord paralysis, and characterized by loud or rough breathing sounds.
adjective
-
making or causing a roar, as an animal or thunder.
-
brisk or highly successful, as trade.
He did a roaring business selling watches to tourists.
-
characterized by noisy, disorderly behavior; boisterous; riotous.
roaring revelry.
-
complete; utter; out-and-out.
a roaring idiot; a roaring success.
adverb
adjective
-
informal very brisk and profitable (esp in the phrase a roaring trade )
-
the period of the Australian goldrushes
-
derogatory (intensifier)
a roaring communist
adverb
noun
-
a loud prolonged cry
-
a debilitating breathing defect of horses characterized by rasping sounds with each breath: caused by inflammation of the respiratory tract or obstruction of the larynx Compare whistling
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of roaring
before 1000; Middle English roryng (noun, adj.), Old English rarung (noun). See roar, -ing 1, -ing 2
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.
When most comics walk on stage before a roaring audience at a sold-out show, as if they’re the star of their own movie, it is intoxicating for them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Earplugs are encouraged there to guard against the roaring sound from the servers when up close.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
Former employee Susan Cox told the BBC that staff became used to the sound of the directors' "top-of-the-range, flash cars roaring into the parking area".
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
His family had held off the cremation in the hope that there would be some news of his missing parents, wife and daughter, who were all swept away when the floods came roaring down.
From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026
There was a roaring fire right in the middle of the hotel dining room.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
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.
