bleating

verb

present participle of bleat
1
as in complaining
to express dissatisfaction, pain, or resentment usually tiresomely as far as the slumlord was concerned, the unhappy tenants were just bleating about nothing

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in whimpering
to utter feeble plaintive cries the baby bleated softly as he woke up, then smiled

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of bleating However, the animals did survive and seemed set on helping their family survive too, repeatedly bleating and stomping on the debris covering the bunker. — Moná Thomas, PEOPLE, 21 May 2026 Players started bleating, serenading James with sounds deserving of the GOAT — greatest of all time. — Los Angeles Times, 2 May 2026 Justin Fletcher returns as the bleating voice of Shaun and the flock, joined by John Sparkes, and Kate Harbour as voice talent in the dialog-free feature. — Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 18 Mar. 2026 When Sneaky Snook in his mail truck happened upon the wreckage near the boundary of Meredith Downs, sheep were scattered along the roadside and the fence, bleating, dazed. — Literary Hub, 5 Mar. 2026 Here came Corgan, bleating a ballad that was genuinely moving, and people wanted to hear it. — Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 3 Mar. 2026 The man sitting in front of me—rugged, with a fine Rockwell Kent profile—tips forward and begins to emit gentle, bleating snores. — James Parker, The Atlantic, 27 Jan. 2026 And when her furry black-and-white friend follows her — bleating at her heels, eager for more affection — Kusimayu keeps walking. — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 24 Dec. 2025 But working with Stockholm Drain Gang veteran Bladee on the remix turns the song into a hyper-pop boss fight, with frenetic and bleating synths piling on the duo’s vocals. — Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bleating
  1. complaining
  2. whimpering
  3. screaming
  4. crying
  5. whining
  6. moaning
  7. muttering
Verb
  • But Chee Meng kept complaining about his shirts being misplaced, and Shawn knew that the man was still slipping out, either to look for work or for other purposes.
    — Rachel Heng, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2026
  • Staff were complaining about the connection in February, Wired reported, and Transformer reported that employees confronted Lehane in a meeting in May, pushing the company to explain its relationship with LTF.
    — Garrison Lovely, semafor.com, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of complaining
Verb
  • That admission led to gasps and whimpering by several courtroom observers.
    — Nick Ferraro, Twin Cities, 11 June 2026
  • As the timer passed seven minutes, Steve Eckert exhorted a whimpering young man to dunk his head underwater.
    — Charles Bethea, New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2026
Definition of whimpering
Verb
  • In reviewing the body camera footage, police found that the child was standing on the stairwell at one point and was screaming while holding her left arm up in the air, according to the warrant affidavit.
    — Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 4 Oct. 2026
  • Mahomes’ emotion seemed to bubble over in the second quarter, with CBS cameras catching the quarterback screaming at offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of screaming
Verb
  • The episode ends with Kayce crying while looking at a broken family photo of him with Tate and Monica.
    — Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Immediately afterward, the sound of a man crying and screaming is audible.
    — Susanne Rust, Los Angeles Times, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of crying
Verb
  • Maris Kreizman pushes back against recent awards season whining.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 1 Oct. 2026
  • For The Times) Courtney does great old ladies and whining teens, Michaels plays great curmudgeons and Palermo is great at space work.
    — Anthony Solorzano, Los Angeles Times, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of whining
Verb
  • At the same time, Plog placed a phone call to a relative and can be heard moaning and screaming in pain.
    — Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Hall wrote in his report that Hamilton lay down in the backseat of the police vehicle, moaning and not responding, prompting first responders to give him Narcan.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of moaning
Verb
  • Max Muncy, whose home run expanded the Dodgers’ lead, was still muttering about the heat nearly 15 minutes after escaping into air conditioning.
    — Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026
  • When John finally reunites with Hal (who charges the ring against the lantern while quickly muttering his oath), the frustrated protégé immediately confronts his teacher with all the suspicions he was meant to keep secret.
    — Siddhant Adlakha, Vulture, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of muttering

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Cite this Entry

“Bleating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bleating. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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