crying

The word “crying” means so urgent or serious that it clearly needs attention. In plain terms, usually either the ongoing act of weeping, or, as an adjective, describing something so bad it demands action ("a crying shame").

“Crying” is pronounced KREYE-ihng (/ˈkɹaɪ̯.ɪŋ/ in IPA).

Here is “crying” used in a sentence: “There is a crying need for more affordable housing.”

Words with a similar meaning to “crying” include in tears, sobbing, sobful, tearful and weeping.

The opposite of “crying” — its antonyms — are cheering, laughing, smiling, uncrying and untearful.

Depending on how it is used, “crying” can be an adjective and a noun.

“Crying” is a fairly common word in modern English.

“Crying” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: so urgent or serious that it clearly needs attention.

As a verb, crying means weeping or shedding tears. As an adjective, it has nothing to do with tears — it means so urgent or serious that it clearly demands attention, as in 'a crying need' or 'a crying shame.' The adjective is idiomatic and usually appears in these fixed phrases.

A crying need is a need so pressing and obvious that it cannot be ignored. The phrase uses crying to mean urgent rather than tearful — for example, 'there is a crying need for more affordable housing.' It emphasizes that a problem is serious enough to demand immediate attention.

The most common examples are 'a crying shame' and 'a crying need.' Saying 'it's a crying shame' means something is genuinely regrettable and deserves notice, while 'a crying need' points to an urgent requirement. In both, crying intensifies the phrase to stress importance rather than describe weeping.