screaming S₁C₃R₁E₁A₁M₃I₁N₁G₂

SCREAMING is a familiar nine-letter word with a few distinct uses: it can name a scream or describe a piercing sound. It can also mean obvious or first-rate. The word is accepted in Collins, NWL2023, and ENABLE, but its letter mix has no anagrams and only two one-letter neighbours.

SCREAMING at a glance

• SCREAMING has nine letters and scores 14 points before board bonuses.
• Collins, NWL2023, and ENABLE include the word.
• Its meanings include a scream, a piercing sound, and something obvious or splendid.
• It has zero anagrams and two one-letter neighbours: STREAMING and SCREAKING.

What does SCREAMING mean?

SCREAMING can be a noun meaning a scream. As an adjective, it describes a loud, sharp, piercing sound, as in a screaming alarm. The same word can mean obvious or distinct, and it can also describe something first-rate or splendid.

Those senses give the word more range than its sound suggests. A “screaming success” uses the positive sense, while a “screaming headline” suggests something glaringly obvious. The definition spans noise, emphasis, and praise, so context tells you which meaning is intended.

What is SCREAMING worth in Scrabble?

SCREAMING is worth 14 base points in Scrabble. Its C and M are worth three points each, and G is worth two; the other six tiles are worth one apiece. That puts six of the word’s 14 points on just two tiles, making a bonus square under C or M especially valuable.

The word has no anagrams, despite using nine different letters. Its only one-letter neighbours are STREAMING and SCREAKING, each made by changing one letter while keeping the rest in place. For rhyme, the shared “-ing” ending links it with words such as BEING, GOING, THING, DOING, GETTING, and LOOKING.

That narrow neighbour set is a useful reminder: a long word need not have many close alternatives. If your game uses a different lexicon, check its entry there; Collins, NWL2023, and ENABLE do not represent every house word list.