aloud
If you read something aloud you use your voice, not just your eyes. You might feel shy reading your poems aloud in front of strangers.
Aloud used to mean "very loudly," but now we use it to mean "speaking voice" as opposed to the silent voice of our thoughts. You might have to read something aloud to your grandmother if she's having trouble with her eyes. If you accidentally said something that you meant to keep to yourself, you were thinking aloud. If something is terribly painful, you might cry aloud — unable to contain yourself.
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘aloud'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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Commonly confused words
allowed / aloud
If you're allowed to eat cookies after dinner but your brother isn't, don't say it aloud. To be allowed to do something is to have permission, but to say something aloud is to speak it.
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