Word.ws English Dictionary

screaming

/ˈskɹiːmɪŋ/

screaming is the present participle and gerund of scream.

Adjective

screaming (comparative more screaming, superlative most screaming)

  1. Loud, sharp, and piercing to the ear.
  2. Obvious; distinct.
  3. (informal) First-rate; splendid.
    • All undergraduate libraries have been a screaming success as study halls. The Undergraduate Library of the University of Michigan may be the smash hit of all time; the attendance in that library during 1968-69 was 1,899,000.1971, Library Journal, volume 96, page 1569
  4. (informal) Hilariously funny; calculated to make people roar with laughter.
    • a screaming farce
  5. (slang) Effeminate, flamboyant or otherwise obviously gay.
    • Did you see that guy at the bar? Screaming!

Meaning of scream

Verb

scream (third-person singular simple present screams, present participle screaming, simple past and past participle screamed or (nonstandard) screamt)

  1. (also, figuratively, intransitive) To cry out with a shrill voice; to utter a sudden, sharp outcry, or shrill, loud cry, as in fright or extreme pain; to screech, to shriek.
    • I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry.c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
  2. (figuratively, intransitive) To move quickly; to race.
    • He almost hit a pole, the way he came screaming down the hill.
    Synonyms:
    speed, zoom, hightail, move quickly, skedaddle, fly, scramble, get a move on, hasten, haul
  3. (figuratively, informal, intransitive) To be very indicative of; clearly having the characteristics of.
    • Do you know what screams "I’m obnoxious"? People who feel the need to comment on every little thing they notice.

See all 8 meanings of scream

Noun

screaming (plural screamings)

  1. A scream.
    • The hissings and screamings of the vulgar against him as he moved forward on his stedfast course he heeded less than those of geese on a common.1875, John Lothrop Motley, The Life and Death of John of Barneveld Advocate of Holland

Synonyms of screaming

Forms of screaming

Adjective
comparativemore screaming
superlativemost screaming
Noun
pluralscreamings

Words formed from screaming

Phrases with screaming

4 more phrasesFewer phrases

Questions about screaming

What does screaming mean?
Screaming means loud, sharp, and piercing to the ear.
What is screaming the present participle and gerund of?
Screaming is the present participle and gerund of scream.
What part of speech is screaming?
Screaming can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce screaming?
Screaming is pronounced /ˈskɹiːmɪŋ/.

Words near screaming in the dictionary

  1. screamfests
  2. screamier
  3. screamiest
  4. screamin'
  5. screaminess
  6. screaming
  7. screaming abdabs
  8. screaming bloody murder
  9. screaming blue murder
  10. screaming for
  11. screaming habdabs

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: screaming (page history and authors); scream (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-screaming.ogg.

Cite this entry: “screaming.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/screaming. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.