overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

roar.

To make a loud, deep cry, especially from pain, anger, or other strong emotion.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/ˈɹɔː/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɹoɹ/General-American/ˈɹɔɹ/General-American/ˈɹo(ː)ɹ/
  1. To make a loud, deep cry, especially from pain, anger, or other strong emotion.

    intransitive
  2. To laugh in a particularly loud manner.

    The audience roared at his jokes.
  3. Of animals (especially a lion), to make a loud deep noise.

    The lioness roared to scare off the hyenas.
  4. Generally, of inanimate objects etc., to make a loud resounding noise.

  5. To proceed vigorously.

    figuratively
  6. To cry aloud; to proclaim loudly.

    transitive
  7. To be boisterous; to be disorderly.

  8. To make a loud noise in breathing, as horses do when they have a certain disease.

  9. To cry.

    Midlands · North · UK · Yorkshire · informal
Where this word comes from

From Middle English roren, raren, from Old English rārian (“to roar; wail; lament”), from Proto-West Germanic *rairōn, from Proto-Germanic *rairōną (“to bellow; roar”), from Proto-Indo-European *rey- (“to shout; bellow; yell; bark”), perhaps of imitative origin. Cognate with Saterland Frisian roorje (“to roar”), German röhren (“to roar”).

noun/ˈɹɔː/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɹoɹ/General-American/ˈɹɔɹ/General-American/ˈɹo(ː)ɹ/
  1. A long, loud, deep shout, as of rage or laughter, made with the mouth wide open.

  2. The cry of the lion.

  3. The deep cry of the bull.

  4. A loud resounding noise.

    the roar of a motorbike
  5. A show of strength or character.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English roren, raren, from Old English rārian (“to roar; wail; lament”), from Proto-West Germanic *rairōn, from Proto-Germanic *rairōną (“to bellow; roar”), from Proto-Indo-European *rey- (“to shout; bellow; yell; bark”), perhaps of imitative origin. Cognate with Saterland Frisian roorje (“to roar”), German röhren (“to roar”).

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

roar has 4 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

roar studioroar workshello, roar

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.