screaming

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of scream.

   Fans were screaming the band's name as the stage lights dropped.

   Screaming at the referee never changes the call.

   Note

   One spelling does two jobs. After a form of be it builds the progressive (the kettle was screaming), and as a subject or object it works as a noun (screaming won't help). The verb behind it reaches past sound: a car can go screaming down a road, and something can be screaming its own character, the figurative 'clearly showing' use that stands close to the 'obvious' adjective.

2. 2
   adjective

   Making a loud, shrill noise that pierces the ear.

   The screaming feedback from the microphone made everyone cover their ears.

   Screaming brakes warned us the bus was stopping far too fast.

   Similarshrill, piercing, deafening, ear-splitting

   Oppositequiet, soft, muted

3. 3
   noununcountable

   A loud, piercing cry, or a sound like one.

   The screaming from the roller coaster carried clear across the park.

   The night nurse could hear the screaming from the far end of the ward and hurried toward it.

   Similarshrieking, screeching, yelling, wailing, shouting

   Note

   The plural carries the weight here: screamings names noise kept up over time, often from many throats. John Lothrop Motley's The Life and Death of John of Barneveld (1875) sets 'the hissings and screamings of the vulgar' against its steadfast hero, who heeded them less than geese on a common. For a single cry, scream is the everyday noun. Screaming suits a continuing din.

4. 4
   adjective

   Very obvious and clearly standing out.

   Anyone reading the two statements side by side could see the screaming contradiction between them.

   Their matching outfits were a screaming sign they had planned the whole thing.

   Similarglaring, blatant, obvious, flagrant, clear

   Oppositesubtle, hidden

5. 5
   adjectivecolloquial

   Extremely funny and designed to make people laugh loudly.

   The farce was a screaming comedy that left the audience in stitches.

   Her sketch was absolutely screaming, with the crowd roaring at every line.

   Similarhilarious, hysterical, uproarious, side-splitting

   Oppositeunfunny

6. 6
   adjectivecolloquial

   First-rate and really splendid.

   The new sports car is a screaming machine, fast and beautifully built.

   Their beach house was a screaming spot for the family reunion.

   Similarterrific, fantastic, great, superb, splendid

   Oppositeterrible, lousy, awful

   Note

   An informal booster, and it is happiest in one pairing: a screaming success. The Library Journal of 1971 called undergraduate libraries 'a screaming success as study halls' and set the phrase beside 'the smash hit of all time.' That shows the sense's natural company, which is the language of hits and triumphs. It sits before the noun and says nothing about noise at all.

   The bake sale was a screaming success, sold out by noon.

   Nobody expected the small-town musical to be a screaming success.

7. 7
   adjectiveslang

   Effeminate, flamboyant, or in some other way obviously gay.

   The new bartender was screaming, all flutter and flair from the moment he arrived.

   The film's one gay character is a screaming queen, played strictly for laughs.

   Similarcamp, flamboyant, effeminate, flaming

   Note

   Gay slang that often stands alone as an instant verdict on someone just seen, as in 'Screaming!' It can also sit before a noun, as in screaming queen. The loudness of the piercing-sound sense has become loudness of manner. Because it labels a person by how visibly gay they seem, it is safer to recognize than to use, especially outside the community it comes from.

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