I feel kinda silly for asking this but I hope you forgive me. When someone cries really intensely they (esp. little kids) make this sound which is kinda like moaning? I would need to know how it's called. But I'm in a situation where a girl is crying over a loss of someone important which was caused by her and therefore she cries very intensely. I've never seen anything like that described in a book so I'd appreciate any hints I can get.
I think people usually call it sobbing. Could be talking about something else though. EDIT: Also, lament, wail, or weep? There are lots so I don't know which you mean. Thought I'd give you a couple more
Ululate? Probably not. I got it by looking up "wail" in a thesaurus, and that was the only one that I saw as a very specific and distinctive sound, so I thought I'd suggest it. Otherwise, I'd suggest the thesaurus thing. ChickenFreak
Aah, Trish. I always thought that sobbing was when you do like *sob* *sob* with your nose. Maybe it's wailing that I'm thinking about. It's always so hard to describe sounds for me, aaargh! There's a certainly big handicap living in a country that doesn't speak english.
I wouldn't say that sobbing has anything to do with your nose, no. It's more a throat and voice thing. It may be exactly the word you're looking for. ChickenFreak
no, 'hulking' has nothing to do with crying... unless it's slang somewhere... 'wail' or 'sob' are the things anyone of any age does when crying hard... can also be some 'moans' and 'whimpering' in there, as well...
Shrieking? The literal meaning for "shriek" isn't the same, but if it's loud and you've set up the crying just right, you could use it. Sorry. It's the only thing I could come up with that nobody else had suggested.
Small children can really wail, the explosion of emotion is hard to ignore. Picture a baby that is extremely unhappy, or the crying of a terrible two's toddler. I think all ages can demonstrate all stages of crying.
wailing, sobbing, crying, caterwauling, weeping It depends on the circumstance and age for me. I associate wailing with children. Whimpering - I don't think of intense crying. You can whimper without crying. Weeping, sobbing - I can associate with adults as well as children. Moan - I dislike the word... but used for pleasure or complaining more than crying in my book. blubbering - crying like a fool to me. You can even just say crying with more description instead. She was crying hysterically Heavy set tears were streaming down her face in rapid succession. Her mournful cries made the world stand still around her. She wept 'till her tears had dried and the rains would come no more.
