Keening
Definition, Meaning & Examples
Part of speech adjective
Quick meaning: Keening is an adjective meaning Sharp, shrill, especially of a sound.
Meaning
Sharp, shrill, especially of a sound.
More Meanings
- Intense mournful wailing after a death, often at a funeral or wake.
- (by extension) An unpleasant wailing sound.
- present participle and gerund of keen
Example Sentences
The keening sound of a dentist's drill sets my teeth on edge.
As Black Sabbath’s doomsayer-in-chief, Osbourne could summon a true sense of terror in his keening cries in a way that heightened the band’s muscular dirges.
Keening. I remember keening that seemed to go on all through the night: shrill, sharp, shiny, needles of sound piercing cleanly and deeply to let the anguish in, not out.
Word Forms
- keenings
Related Words
Related dictionary entries include corking, exquisite, bang-up, slap-up, incisive, nifty.
Related Dictionary Tools
Sources & Attribution
FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.