Meaning & use
exclamatory
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a nounformal
Expressing sudden strong feeling, such as surprise, joy or anger, in words.
Grammar: Comes before a noun: an exclamatory remark.
Patterns
- an exclamatory remark
Her exclamatory cry echoed through the hall.
He made an exclamatory remark when he saw the price.
The note ended with an exclamatory flourish.
adjectivebefore a nountechnical
Describing a sentence that shows strong emotion and ends with an exclamation mark.
Grammar: Used in grammar with sentence: an exclamatory sentence.
Patterns
- an exclamatory sentence
What a lovely day it is! is an exclamatory sentence.
Teachers explain exclamatory sentences alongside questions and commands.
Common combinations
- exclamatory sentence
- Write an exclamatory sentence about the zoo.
- exclamatory remark
- An exclamatory remark escaped him.
- exclamatory tone
- She spoke in an exclamatory tone.
- exclamatory cry
- An exclamatory cry rose from the crowd.
Synonyms and how they differ
- emphatic
- Emphatic stresses force in what is said, not necessarily emotion.
- vehement
- Vehement suggests intense and angry force.
- emotive
- Emotive describes language that arouses feelings in others.
Opposites
Word family
- exclaim verb
- to cry out suddenly
- exclamation noun
- a sudden cry of feeling
- exclamation mark noun
- the punctuation sign !
- exclamatorily adverb
- in an exclamatory way (rare)
Commonly confused: exclamatory or declarative? exclamatory or explanatory?
exclamatory vs declarative
A declarative sentence just states a fact, while an exclamatory sentence expresses strong feeling.
exclamatory vs explanatory
Explanatory means giving reasons, and is unrelated.
Practice
Which is an exclamatory sentence?
Choose one answer.
Only the third shows strong feeling and ends with an exclamation mark. The others are a question, a command and a statement.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “exclamatory”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.