# howler

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈhaʊlɚ/ · frequency rank #52,386

## Definitions
1. That which howls, especially an animal such as a wolf or a howler monkey.
2. A person hired to howl in mourning at a funeral.
3. A painfully obvious mistake.
4. A hilarious joke.
5. A bitterly cold day.
6. A person who expresses aggression openly in the form of threats.
7. A heavy fall.
8. A serious accident (especially to come a howler or go a howler; compare come a cropper).
9. A tremendous lie (especially an obvious one); a whopper.
10. A fashionably but extravagantly overdressed man, a "howling swell".
11. A 32-ounce ceramic, plastic, or stainless steel jug used to transport draft beer.
12. A small child.

## Etymology
From howl + -er. Some senses are derivatives of the intensifier "howling", as in "howling wilderness", (Deuteronomy 32:10)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/howler