yell
Americanverb (used without object)
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yells,
present (3rd person singular)
-
yelled,
past participle, past
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yelling
present participle
-
to cry out or speak with a strong, loud, clear sound; shout.
He always yells when he is angry.
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to scream with pain, fright, etc.
verb (used with object)
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yells,
present (3rd person singular)
-
yelled,
past participle, past
-
yelling
present participle
noun
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yells
plural
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a cry uttered by yelling.
-
a cheer or shout of fixed words or syllables, as one adopted by a school or college to encourage a team.
verb
noun
-
a loud piercing inarticulate cry, as of pain, anger, or fear
-
a rhythmic cry of words or syllables, used in cheering in unison
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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yellsimple
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yellssimple
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have yelledperfect
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has yelledperfect
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am yellingprogressive
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are yellingprogressive
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is yellingprogressive
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have been yellingperfect progressive
-
has been yellingperfect progressive
Past
-
yelledsimple
-
had yelledperfect
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was yellingprogressive
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were yellingprogressive
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had been yellingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of yell
First recorded before 1000; (for the verb) Middle English yellen, Old English gellan, giellan; cognate with German gellen to resound, Dutch gillen; akin to Old English galan “to sing” ( see nightingale); noun derivative of the verb
Explanation
To yell is to call or cry out loudly. You might yell across a loud cafeteria to get your friend's attention, or yell at your sister for borrowing your favorite sweater. Use the word yell as a verb or noun to describe the noise someone makes when they holler or shout. You can yell with enthusiasm, the way a crowd at a sporting event does, or in anger, like an irate driver yelling out the car window. A yell can express surprise, fury, or delight — but it's always loud. The Old English root is galan, "to sing."
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:
Surely some of this is the doldrums of late summer and the lack of sports stuff to yell about.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
“If they want to yell at me, if they want to boo me, they can do whatever they want,” Yan said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
And it was some of these very same fans that used to stand outside Paul’s house in London and yell insults as Linda emerged to do the shopping.
From Salon ● Jun. 23, 2026
What if we weren’t destined to tear each other limb from limb, to yell instead of speaking, or dig our backpacks into each other’s bodies on the train?
From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2026
I yell as I race, trying to glimpse Midnight.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
And because the cars can rotate 360 degrees, Universal can in theory direct rider yells away from the studio below and the neighborhood nearby.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
To wit, a man catcalls her as she walks past and she yells, “I object!”
From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2026
“Class of 1975,” yells someone from the crowd.
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026
Something malicious and alive, an indicator of a deeper rot, has crept into your space while you weren’t paying attention, your pest-wary hindbrain yells.
From Salon ● Nov. 7, 2025
“This is a good thing,” Owen yells after me.
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
Metres away, other photographers yelled instructions to ornately dressed young women who held their fingers in victory signs and arched their backs for the camera.
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
On one occasion, when he played missed, he yelled to the heavens in frustration, then celebrated when he toe-ended to third man for four.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
The 3-year-old then yelled out “hi” as he waved from the balcony.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 24, 2026
Roshkoff said even when her father yelled or put them down, there was never any question that he loved them and cared deeply about his employees.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
“They’re going to eat us up, Rowdy,” I yelled.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
Walking through the door unannounced yelling “Hi, family!” across the living room.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
It is both lonely and silent, with the players on their own as they compete, unless they have an overbearing coach yelling at them from the sidelines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
“For Warsh, yelling about it but not hiking because inflation is coming down is the best of all worlds,” said Guy LeBas, chief fixed-income strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 18, 2026
Then on game day, “they’re not ready to deal with a coach yelling at them, or a parent coming out of the stands,” she says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
The voices were yelling now and Jeff was moving with the phone.
From "Firegirl" by Tony Abbott
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.
