Meanings
nounWilhelm scream (plural Wilhelm screams)
plural Wilhelm screams
- A stock sound effect of a man's scream, used in numerous films.
Origin
Named after Private Wilhelm, a character in The Charge at Feather River (1953), one of the earlier films to use the effect.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
Wilhelm scream. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Wilhelm%20scream
MLA
“Wilhelm scream.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Wilhelm%20scream. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Wilhelm scream,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Wilhelm%20scream.
Source: Wilhelm scream on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.