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exclaim

verb

Simple meaning

To cry out suddenly, from some strong emotion.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ihksklaym

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ɪkskˈleɪm

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.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. intransitive

    To cry out suddenly, from some strong emotion.

  2. transitive

    To say suddenly and with strong emotion.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Frequency
Rare

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To cry out suddenly, from some strong emotion.

Used this way, exclaim is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It comes across as direct, sometimes bluntly so.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Sudden and forceful
Usage feel
Blunt and forceful

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use exclaim

  • “`I am not a Communist,' he exclaimed.”verb
  • “`I won!' he exclaimed.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

well exclaimvoice exclaimexclaim afterexclaim aloudexclaim loudly

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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?

Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.

  • outcry

    To cry out.

  • cry

    Utter a sudden loud cry.

  • shout

    To utter a sudden and loud cry, as in joy, triumph, exultation or anger, or to attract attention, to animate others,….

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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.