ululating
Crying with tremolo
Ululating is making a long, wavering, high-pitched vocal sound—a sustained cry produced by rapid movement of the tongue or oscillation of the voice.
The sound appears across cultures as an expression of grief, celebration, or ritual: Women ululated at the wedding procession.
The word often appears in descriptions of Middle Eastern or African ceremonies.
Passionate expression of grief
- keeningVocal mourning for dead
- griefIntense sorrow from loss
- funeralService honoring the dead
- bereavementState following loss
sorrow · dirge · eulogy · condolence · anguish · wake · tears · memorial
Rapid note alternation
- waveringShowing unsteady resolve
- warblingSinging with quavers
- high-pitchedHigh in frequency
- quaveringShaking in tone
vibrato · modulating · tongue · yodeling · shrieking · caterwauling · screaming · bellowing
lamentation
Passionate expression of grief
bereavement · sorrow · dirge · eulogy · condolence · anguish · wake · tears · memorial · remembrance
trilling
Rapid note alternation
- waveringShowing unsteady resolve
- warblingSinging with quavers
- high-pitchedHigh in frequency
quavering · vibrato · modulating · tongue · yodeling · shrieking · caterwauling · screaming · bellowing · crying
jubilation
Intense, expressive happiness
- exultationIntense triumphant joy
- triumphResounding, celebrated victory
- cheeringVocal encouragement given
festivity · revelry · wedding · victory · fanfare · euphoria · merrymaking · carnival · fiesta · gala
chanting
Rhythmic repetitive vocalization
rites · incantation · sacred · ancestors · tradition · worship · spiritual · totem · pilgrimage · liturgy
ululatingdroning
Sustained monotonous sound
enunciating · articulating · whispering · murmuring · mumbling