ululate
Americanverb (used without object)
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ululates,
present (3rd person singular)
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ululated,
past participle, past
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ululating
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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ululatesimple
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ululatessimple
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have ululatedperfect
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has ululatedperfect
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am ululatingprogressive
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are ululatingprogressive
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is ululatingprogressive
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have been ululatingperfect progressive
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has been ululatingperfect progressive
Past
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ululatedsimple
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had ululatedperfect
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was ululatingprogressive
-
were ululatingprogressive
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had been ululatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of ululate
First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin ululātus, past participle of ululāre “to howl, shriek,” of imitative origin; akin to Greek hylân, ololýzein “to howl, wail,” Sanskrit ululí- “howling”; see -ate 1
Explanation
To ululate is to loudly howl or wail. Animals ululate, and so do people in pain. This is an unusual-looking word, but it means something easy to understand: howling or wailing loudly. A lion will ululate. A person in pain will ululate. Coyotes and wolves — who are known for their howling — ululate. People who have their hearts broken might cry and ululate. Ululating could mean the animal or person is in pain, or maybe they’re trying to communicate something else. The key element is that it’s loud.
Vocabulary lists containing ululate
The Namesake
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I Will Always Write Back
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Long Walk to Freedom
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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:
When women’s voices ululate, they do so, in different regions of the world, to celebrate, to mourn, to pray, to warn, to seduce.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2020
The horseman howl and ululate in triumph while the Unsullied bang their spears on the ground in unison.
From Salon ● May 20, 2019
At that point, as though suddenly realizing that there were dramatic circumstances at hand, the local jamming installations swung into action, commencing to howl and ululate with a doubled fury.
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 17, 2014
The man who married Trotsky's secretary made his most interesting and rebellious characters girls: the piratical sisters, the Amazons, who "rattle our sabres to frighten the neighbours", ululate ferociously beneath their bonnets rouges.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 19, 2010
The efrits ululate, doubling their efforts to pull her away.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
It’s possible to forget that, sunk into some plush seat while a chorus line ululates, but threat remains.
From New York Times ● Mar. 16, 2020
She starts screaming in Farsi, then ululates at ear-piercing timbre.
From New York Times ● Jul. 30, 2015
"Why?" ululates Edwards, shaking his head like an aggrieved outreach worker, but, when confronted, nobody seems to know.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 22, 2013
The singer, here the vibrantly theatrical countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, sometimes echoes, sometimes ululates and sometimes disintegrates into a pained, nearly silent scream.
From New York Times ● Aug. 13, 2012
With a maximum of temptation she ululates the ditties of the Gershwin brothers.
From Time Magazine Archive
Women wearing beads, skirts and hats ululated and sang Zulu hymns and slogans as they awaited the arrival of the new king.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 20, 2022
Who knew that Martians, inside monstrous tripodal machines taller than many buildings, actually ululated, that they made eerily haunting "ulla, ulla, ulla, ulla" sounds?
From Salon ● Nov. 26, 2021
A group of women stood a few feet away and ululated, and there couldn’t have been a greater contrast between the animated, passionate voices and the flat, lost look in Duop’s eyes.
From New York Times ● Apr. 4, 2017
Mau Mau veterans danced, prayed and ululated to celebrate news of the agreement at an event in Nairobi.
From Reuters ● Jun. 6, 2013
People sang and danced and the women ululated as I was led away.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Others surged towards the casket, dancing, clapping, ululating; all through tears.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2026
Crowds gathered at the hospital, cheering and ululating to celebrate.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2023
“I feel like I am in Morocco!” said Ibrahim Boutahar, a Moroccan fan who lives in Doha and joined the dancing, chanting and ululating crowd.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 5, 2022
Videos posted to social media showed crowds cheering, honking, ululating and waving Tunisian flags after the president’s actions Sunday night, the dark night lit up by red flares.
From New York Times ● Jul. 26, 2021
There he would sit, and the search would pass him by, and the cordon waver on, ululating along the island, and he would be free.
From "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
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.
