screamed bloody murder
Yelled in terror
To scream bloody murder is to cry out with extreme urgency, alarm, or protest, as if witnessing or experiencing violence.
The phrase emphasizes both volume and intensity—someone screaming bloody murder isn't just loud but sounds genuinely distressed or outraged.
It applies equally to literal shrieks of fear and to figurative protests: The kids screamed bloody murder when we said no ice cream or Shareholders screamed bloody murder over the CEO's bonus.
- criedWept or shouted
- yellSpeak very loudly
- shriekShrill, piercing cry
- hollerLoud vocal outburst
- shoutLoud vocal outburst
caterwaul · threw a fit · outrage · terror · hysteria · panic · fright · bawl · denounce · protest · horror · cry · exclaim · wail · bellow · roar · apoplectic · screech
screamed bloody murderwhispered
Spoke without full voice
murmured · muttered · breathed · mumbled · barely audible
screamed bloody murdersaid nothing
kept quiet · kept one's cool · grinned and bore it · bit one's tongue · acquiesced
scream, screamed, screaming, screams, screamer, screamers, blood, bloody, bloods