cackle
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A laugh resembling the cry of a hen or goose.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kakuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkækəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A laugh resembling the cry of a hen or goose.
A loud laugh suggestive of a hen's cackle
The sound made by a hen after laying an egg
The cry of a hen or goose, especially when laying an egg.
Futile or excessively noisy talk.
verb
intransitive
To make a sharp, broken noise or cry, as a hen or goose does.
Talk or utter in a cackling manner
“The women cackled when they saw the movie star step out of the limousine.”
intransitive
To laugh with a broken sound similar to a hen's cry.
intransitive
To talk in a silly manner; to prattle.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A laugh resembling the cry of a hen or goose.
Used this way, cackle is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use cackle
- “The women cackled when they saw the movie star step out of the limousine.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: to make a sharp or broken noise or cry
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.