Exclaim Meaning
/ɛkˈskleɪm/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo cry out suddenly, from some strong emotion.
verbTo say suddenly and with strong emotion.
Sentence Examples
She will exclaim her love to him tonight.
The crowd began to exclaim in surprise and delight.
The children began to exclaim with joy when they saw snow.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The tourists will ____ in amazement when they see the Grand Canyon.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
'How beautiful!' she did ____ when she saw the vibrant colors of the sunset.
Word Origin & History
From Middle French exclamer, from Latin exclāmō, exclāmāre (“call out”), from ex- + clāmō (“to call”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"I am a soldier, and unapt to weep,
Or to exclaim on fortune’s fickleness."
— 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]:
"Very grave and good Women exclaimed against Men who begot Children and then disowned them."
— 1749, Henry Fielding, chapter 9, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book I, page 33:
"This wretched note was the finale of Emma’s breakfast. When once it had been read, there was no doing any thing, but lament and exclaim."
— 1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], Emma: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC:
"[…] he could remember Sally tearing off a rose, stopping to exclaim at the beauty of the cabbage leaves in the moonlight […]"
— 1925, Virginia Woolf, Mrs Dalloway, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, published 1985, page 114:
"[…] at the front door below a few guests were leaving, and the bright rectangle widened and narrowed as they slipped out into the night, laughing and exclaiming about the weather."
— 2011, Alan Hollinghurst, The Stranger’s Child, New York: Knopf, Part 4, Chapter 1, p. 285:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The tourists will ____ in amazement when they see the Grand Canyon.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
'How beautiful!' she did ____ when she saw the vibrant colors of the sunset.