scream
Americanverb (used without object)
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screams,
present (3rd person singular)
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screamed,
past participle, past
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screaming
present participle
-
to utter a loud, sharp, piercing cry.
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to emit a shrill, piercing sound.
The sirens and whistles screamed.
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to laugh immoderately or uncontrollably.
The comedian had the audience screaming.
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to shout or speak shrilly, especially with harsh or exaggerated words.
They screamed across the back fence.
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to play or sing in a high, loud, harsh manner.
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to be conspicuous or startling.
That red dress really screams.
verb (used with object)
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screams,
present (3rd person singular)
-
screamed,
past participle, past
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screaming
present participle
-
to utter with or as if with a loud, piercing cry.
His patience exhausted, he screamed the instructions to the class.
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to bring (oneself) to a specified condition by loud and shrill shouts or cries.
We screamed ourselves hoarse at the concert.
verb
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to utter or emit (a sharp piercing cry or similar sound or sounds), esp as of fear, pain, etc
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(intr) to laugh wildly
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(intr) to speak, shout, or behave in a wild or impassioned manner
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(tr) to bring (oneself) into a specified state by screaming
she screamed herself hoarse
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(intr) to be extremely conspicuous
these orange curtains scream, you need more restful colours in a bedroom
noun
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a sharp piercing cry or sound, esp one denoting fear or pain
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informal a person or thing that causes great amusement
Synonym Usage
Scream, shriek, screech apply to crying out in a loud, piercing way. To scream is to utter a loud, piercing cry, especially of pain, fear, anger, or excitement: to scream with terror. The word is used also for a little, barely audible cry given by one who is startled. Shriek usually refers to a sharper and briefer cry than scream; when caused by fear or pain, it is often indicative of more terror or distress; shriek is also used for shrill uncontrolled cries: to shriek with laughter. Screech emphasizes disagreeable shrillness and harshness, often with a connotation of lack of dignity: to screech approval at a rock concert.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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screamsimple
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screamssimple
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have screamedperfect
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has screamedperfect
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am screamingprogressive
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are screamingprogressive
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is screamingprogressive
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have been screamingperfect progressive
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has been screamingperfect progressive
Past
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screamedsimple
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had screamedperfect
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was screamingprogressive
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were screamingprogressive
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had been screamingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of scream
First recorded in 1150–1200; 1905–10 scream for def. 11; Middle English screamen (verb), (unattested) Old English scrǣman; akin to Old Norse skraumi “chatterbox, braggart,” skruma “to jabber”; sc- (for regular sh- as in Middle English shreame ) from obsolete scritch “to screech” ( see screech
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:
And Thatcher’s other film roles in 2023’s “The Boogeyman” and a bit part in the following year’s “MaXXXine” certainly don’t help Hollywood’s perception of her as a wannabe scream queen.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
Once it gets going, “Oak Street” makes the audience squirm, scream and laugh for nearly an hour, and I had a great time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Zhang Xue wept with joy and furiously waved a Chinese flag as he watched his company's superbike scream across the finish line four seconds ahead of competitors in only its third world championship race.
From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026
Install hockey play-by-play announcers who emphasize the rising action, then scream “goal!”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026
Coal’s throat closed around a scream he refused to let out.
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
“Nothing in the current outlook screams massive incremental power-burn demand.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
Even a teaser from “The Bluey Movie” elicited screams from the largely adult audience.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
“Outer Banks” is aggressively meh, and there’s not much else that screams to be watched this month.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
"My daughter screams all day and is afraid," she says, adding that Yusha has become paranoid about planes falling from the sky.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
First by the screams of solidarity, then by the group chanting, “Justice! Justice! Justice!” over and over again.
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
“Grown-ups gave me positive attention when—as an actor—I failed, got sick, screamed and cried, killed, grieved and suffered,” she wrote.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
She said she climbed onto the car and screamed for her husband and children.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
Related: ‘I’ve yelled, screamed and cried’: My mother gave $400K to online scammers.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
Somebody else might have made a stand, kicked and screamed, said, “If they go, I go. ”
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
He immediately fought to get down again, screamed for it, and when he got down he began to pull with his neck.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
And that assumes you have the stomach to buy when the headlines are screaming that things are about to get worse.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
"Children were screaming and most of the passengers were vomiting, but the captain did not seem to care."
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
Children in school uniforms are then seen screaming and rushing for an exit.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
“Then the guitar took two screaming solos. I just thought, ‘This is where I belong.’”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
All were met with walls of capslock screaming and demands to know all the details.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
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.
