What does exclamatory mean?
Exclamatory is an adjective describing speech or writing that expresses sudden, forceful emotion — typically a sentence ending in an exclamation mark that conveys surprise, joy, anger, or admiration. It is best known as the label grammar gives to one of the four main sentence types, alongside declarative, interrogative, and imperative: an exclamatory sentence opens with 'what' or 'how' and closes with '!'. Beyond the classroom, the word also appears in rhetoric and literary criticism, where an exclamatory tone or style signals heightened, spontaneous feeling. The term derives from the Latin exclamare, 'to cry out', the same root behind exclamation and exclaim. Because it is somewhat formal, everyday conversation rarely uses it directly; instead, speakers simply exclaim. Still, understanding exclamatory helps writers control emotional intensity on the page, distinguishing a genuine burst of feeling from prose that merely looks excited through excessive punctuation.
Of a sentence, utterance, or tone: expressing sudden strong emotion, especially one ending in an exclamation mark.
"'How beautiful this is!' is an exclamatory sentence."
In grammar, exclamatory sentences conventionally begin with 'what' or 'how' and end with an exclamation mark.
Characterized by or given to loud, forceful cries or expressions of emotion.
"The crowd grew exclamatory as the final seconds ticked away."
Every time you end a sentence with '!', you've written an exclamatory sentence — and its name traces straight back to the Latin word for crying out loud.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of exclamatory
Exclamatory comes from the Late Latin exclamatorius, derived from the verb exclamare, meaning 'to cry out or call out against'. That verb was formed from ex- ('out') combined with clamare ('to shout'), the same root that gives English claim, clamour, and acclaim. The word entered English around the early seventeenth century, during a period when grammatical and rhetorical vocabulary was being borrowed heavily from Latin. Its relatives include exclamation, exclaim, and exclamative.
How exclamatory is actually used
Primarily a formal or technical term encountered in grammar, rhetoric, and literary criticism; in everyday speech people usually just say someone 'exclaimed' rather than describing their remark as exclamatory. In grammar it names one of the principal sentence types, alongside declarative, interrogative, and imperative.
Easily confused with exclamatory
Exclamation is the noun denoting the outcry itself, while exclamatory is an adjective describing something that has the character of an exclamation.
Exclamative is a term used mainly in linguistics for one of the four sentence types, whereas exclamatory is the broader everyday adjective for anything expressive of sudden emotion.