ululation
/juːljʊˈleɪʃ(ə)n/
"ululation" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ululation” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The act of ululating; a long, loud, wavering cry or howl.
Corpus desk
Index EN-ululation · ululation · English
ululation · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "U" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ululation |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /juːljʊˈleɪʃ(ə)n/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “ululation” in English
Rare enough to double-check
ululation is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /juːljʊˈleɪʃ(ə)n/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The act of ululating; a long, loud, wavering cry or howl.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for ululation, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: ] Borrowed from Latin ululātiō, from ululō (“to howl, shriek, yell”) (from a reduplicated Proto-Indo-European imitative root) + -ātiō (suffix forming nouns relating to some action or the result of an action) (from Proto-Indo-European *-tis (suffix forming a… The correct English form is ululation, spelled U-L-U-L-A-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1The act of ululating; a long, loud, wavering cry or howl.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how ululation appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The overthrown Martian set up a prolonged ululation, and immediately a second glittering giant, answering him, appeared over the trees[.]
As we started there broke from the thick silent woods behind us a sudden great ululation of the ape-men, which may have been a cheer of triumph at our departure or a jeer of contempt at our flight.
Etymology
] Borrowed from Latin ululātiō, from ululō (“to howl, shriek, yell”) (from a reduplicated Proto-Indo-European imitative root) + -ātiō (suffix forming nouns relating to some action or the result of an action) (from Proto-Indo-European *-tis (suffix forming abstract or action nouns from verb roots)).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.