To exclaim means to speak or cry out suddenly and loudly, often because you are surprised, excited, or upset. It usually shows strong emotion.
It comes from Latin 'exclamare', meaning 'to cry out', from 'ex-' (out) and 'clamare' (to shout). The idea is of emotions bursting outward in sound.
An exclamation mark on the page is just a tiny picture of someone exclaiming in real life. When you exclaim, your volume and speed jump ahead of your thinking—your feelings rush out first.
In literature and dialogue tagging, women characters have historically been described as exclaiming, shrieking, or gasping more often than men, reinforcing stereotypes of women as overly emotional or dramatic. This pattern has contributed to gendered perceptions of whose speech is calm, rational, or authoritative.
Use “exclaim” sparingly and even-handedly across genders, and consider whether a neutral verb like “said” or a description of tone is more accurate. Avoid defaulting to more emotional speech verbs only for women or feminized characters.
["said","stated","replied","responded","called out"]
Women authors and editors have been central in critiquing gendered dialogue tags and promoting more balanced, realistic portrayals of characters’ speech across genders.
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