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Synonyms

howling

American  
[hou-ling] / ˈhaʊ lɪŋ /

adjective

  1. producing or uttering a howling noise.

    a howling mob.

  2. desolate, dismal, or dreary.

    a howling wilderness.

  3. Informal. very great; tremendous.

    a howling success.
howling British  
/ ˈhaʊlɪŋ /

adjective

  1. informal (prenominal) (intensifier)

    a howling success

    a howling error
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • howlingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of howling

1250–1300; Middle English houlinge (gerund); howl, -ing 2

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.

Umpires are already howling about being second-guessed in public, no surprise there.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026

"To find wolf kills locally, ravens likely use short-range cues, like monitoring wolf behavior or listening to wolf howling," says Loretto.

From Science Daily • Mar. 19, 2026

Ms McCullough said: "He was so loud. He was howling, crying and screaming."

From BBC • Mar. 5, 2026

An azure booth is flanked by an abstracted mermaid sculpture, and elsewhere howling wolves are engraved into the bar tops.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 26, 2026

It was deep, ragged, desperate howling, followed by a higher, sweeter, more piping sort of howl.

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood

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.