keening 1 of 2

adjective

as in wailing

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keening

2 of 2

verb

present participle of keen
1
as in complaining
to express dissatisfaction, pain, or resentment usually tiresomely victims of the disaster have been keening for weeks about the slowness of governmental aid

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in howling
to make a long loud mournful sound mourners keening for the victims of the bombing

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of keening
Adjective
But Dunne’s voice, lilting and keening, is rich with empathy. — Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 5 Sep. 2025 The memoir shows little interest in the gambler’s psychology or the keening dramas of the floor. — Dan Piepenbring, New Yorker, 4 Feb. 2026 This sequence, with its onstage vengeance, despair and keening dialogue, and its offstage look at how Kikuo’s triumph affects the two people closest to him, is one of the most powerful in the movie. — Sheri Linden, HollywoodReporter, 29 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for keening
  1. wailing
  2. complaining
  3. howling
  4. weeping
  5. screaming
  6. sentimental
  7. whining
  8. mawkish
Adjective
  • Sitting opposite an old people’s home in a residential corner of Paris’ 14th arrondissement, La Santé’s unassuming presence is only given away by the occasional wailing siren as prisoners are transported to and from the site.
    — Joseph Ataman, CNN Money, 14 Oct. 2025
Definition of wailing
Verb
  • Gal and Amora barely know each other, and Jaiden and Caleb have been complaining about one another for the past three days.
    — Kathleen Walsh, Vulture, 6 July 2026
  • Also, the ocean offers genuine advantages, such as stable temperatures, an abundance of undisputed land, and no neighbors complaining about noise.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 5 July 2026
Definition of complaining
Verb
  • Then, just as suddenly, the din fades away, the focus shifts and the election process is forgotten until the next round of howling protest.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 2 July 2026
  • Gary ad-libbed to the sound of howling winds and ominous metal scraping.
    — Greg O'Keeffe, New York Times, 21 June 2026
Definition of howling
Adjective
  • And every day, across from them, outside the clinic, about to enter or just leaving, there were women hugging each other and weeping.
    — David Mamet, National Review, 11 Aug. 2022
  • The show manages to stay on the brink — always laughing, never quite weeping — for its entire length.
    — Helen Shaw, Vulture, 8 Dec. 2021
Definition of weeping
Verb
  • From the outset of the selloff earlier this year, Jim Cramer was screaming from the rooftops that cyber should never have been lumped into run-of-the-mill enterprise software.
    — Zev Fima, CNBC, 7 July 2026
  • There were no vendors hawking bootleg royal-wedding merch, no screaming lines of fans, not even that many impromptu sing-alongs (some were solicited by journalists looking for content).
    — Zach Schiffman, Curbed, 6 July 2026
Definition of screaming
Adjective
  • At its deepest level, this work is fueled by unconditional love—not sentimental or passive love but love as discipline, courage and commitment.
    — Yujia Zhu, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
  • The Freakier Friday star also reflected on turning 40 in a sentimental Instagram post.
    — Hannah Malach, InStyle, 2 July 2026
Definition of sentimental
Verb
  • Stop whining and complaining, people.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 12 June 2026
  • Well, certainly a lot of whining about technology.
    — Inga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 June 2026
Definition of whining
Adjective
  • The sounds are chintzy and soaked in reverb, like a mawkish ’80s ballad rewritten from memory, and the whole thing slowly falls apart and fades out like an old track by the Field.
    — Andrew Ryce, Pitchfork, 24 June 2026
  • The book’s final section, comprising a reunion at a funeral, could have been mawkish but instead is moving … A riveting tale.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 20 Feb. 2026
Definition of mawkish

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keened
keening
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Cite this Entry

“Keening.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/keening. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

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