as in sobbing
to shed tears often while making meaningless sounds as a sign of pain or distress
the poor child was blubbering because he had fallen and skinned his knee
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in crying
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for blubbering
Verb
-
When Jenny tried to talk with her mother about the conflict, Alice would often immediately start weeping.—
Rachel Aviv,
The New Yorker,
23 Dec. 2024 -
As weeping family members and friends of Lombardo Palacios, 33, and Charlotte Pleytez, 37, looked on, the courtroom exploded in applause.—
Connor Sheets,
Los Angeles Times,
21 Dec. 2024
Adjective
-
The funny thing is, by all accounts, Zaslav is also genuinely sentimental about the network and said to even have it on at his office quite often.—
Christian Blauvelt,
IndieWire,
9 July 2025
-
The luxury label’s classic products—often resold or passed down through generations—gain sentimental and financial value over time, per the report.—
Alexandra Harrell,
Sourcing Journal,
8 July 2025
Noun
-
As seen and heard this week at the SEC spring meetings, the whining over that has not ceased.—
Joe Rexrode,
New York Times,
30 May 2025
-
That’s okay, no whining (hopefully the cheap shots by Leafs silence the Stolarz criers at least).—
Joshua Kloke,
New York Times,
11 May 2025
Adjective
-
After a mawkish beginning, the play somewhat redeems itself through earned emotions and an ambiguous ending that begs discussion.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
14 June 2025
-
Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, jailed and banned frequently, has never allowed his work to get mawkish.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
24 May 2025
Adjective
-
He’s also invested his protagonist with a self-deprecating sense of humor that keeps his pessimism from veering into maudlin territory.—
Book Marks
June 27,
Literary Hub,
27 June 2025
-
In his lesser novels, the tragedies are maudlin and the jokes mere punch lines.—
Charlie Lee,
Harpers Magazine,
18 June 2025
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.
Cite this Entry
“Blubbering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/blubbering. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share