Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Rough and stormy; violent.
- adj. Loud, noisy, and lacking in restraint or discipline. See Synonyms at vociferous.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Rough; coarse; stout; stiff.
- Rough and massive; bulky; cumbrous; clumsy.
- Rough in operation or action; violent; vehement.
- Rough and stormy: applied to the weather, the waves, etc.
- Exposed to the turbulence of the elements: as, a boisterous headland; a boisterous passage.
- Fierce; savage; truculent; full of violence: as, boisterous war.
- Turbulent; rough and noisy; clamorous: applied to persons or their actions: as, a boisterous man; boisterous merriment; a boisterous game.
Wiktionary
- adj. Full of energy; exuberant; noisy.
- adj. Characterized by violence and agitation; wild; stormy.
- adj. Having or resembling animal exuberance.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Rough or rude; unbending; unyielding; strong; powerful.
- adj. Exhibiting tumultuous violence and fury; acting with noisy turbulence; violent; rough; stormy.
- adj. Noisy; rough; turbulent.
- adj. Vehement; excessive.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. full of rough and exuberant animal spirits
- adj. noisy and lacking in restraint or discipline
- adj. violently agitated and turbulent
Etymologies
- Middle English boistres, variant of boistous, rude, rough, perhaps from Old French boisteus, lame, limping, from boiste, knee joint.
Examples
“A brawler, 'or, as Delitzsch renders it,' boisterous '-- look into a liquor-store if you want to verify that, or listen to a drunken party coming back from an excursion and making night hideous with their bellowings, or go to any police court on a Monday morning.”
“But Purim is most obviously characterized by a boisterous feast se'udah during which participants dress in costumes and drink to excess.”
“Sharpton was a pretty big draw," says Washington schools chancellor Michelle Rhee, recalling the boisterous crowd at Cardozo.”
“She is what you would call a boisterous child, overflowing with ebullition of spirits, _joie de vivre_, bonhomie, and all those attributes which cause people possessing them to make a noise.”
“As there was only us three in the room, and as none of us seemed to have anything to say, it wa'n't what you might call a boisterous assemblage.”
“I was always told that what might be called boisterous weather signalled my arrival.”
A Labrador Doctor The Autobiography of Wilfred Thomason Grenfell
“But Purim is most obviously characterized by a boisterous feast se'udah during which participants dress in costumes and drink to excess.”
“The Times reporter referred to a "boisterous" Giants crowd this morning so I figure that's a good sign.”
“Thankfully, studentsresponded to this editorial, disputing its characterization of the Women's Center as histrionic and taking issue with the weasel words that seem to absolve the DKE brothers of culpability ( 'boisterous''provocateurs').”
“Thankfully, studentsresponded to this editorial, disputing its characterization of the Women's Center as histrionic and taking issue with the weasel words that seem to absolve the DKE brothers of culpability ( 'boisterous' 'provocateurs').”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘boisterous’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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Mobying Along
looks like there's not an open Moby Dick list. So now there is.
hypos, Manhattoes, circumambulate, mole, grapnels, bowsprit, asphaltic, mazy, tranced, cataract, ungraspable, judgmatically and 227 more...
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Not edible
Things that sound edible but are not (usually). See Liberty's To Eat, or Not to Eat? for more diet food.
cinnabar, dulcimer, belfries, potto, maltha, grapple, loam, rake, tort, pomade, buffalo chip, wedgie and 165 more...
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sound (loud)
words for loud sounds
( descriptive, randomness )crash, thud, bump, thump, boom, smash, explode, roar, scream, screech, short, yell and 167 more...
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SAT words
tergiversate, cymotrichous, vigilance, wince, consternation, cower, neutralize, euphony, cacophony, misanthrope, bibliophile, kleptomania and 81 more...
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Angry, smartarse Words
Well not necessarily totally angry but words of disdain, criticism, ones I've heard for ages that sound good in insults, debate, arguments, smartarse conversations. All in Good fun, wink, wink, nud...
obstreperous, pedagogue, boisterous, ropeable, wowser, crud, acharnement
Louises See love comments Mar 26, 2012
frogapplause Gotcha. It's clear to me now. Thanks. Mar 15, 2011
bilby oysters
Also not edible in my opinion. Mar 15, 2011
frogapplause In what way does this word sound edible? (See mollusque's list Not Edible.) Mar 15, 2011
curligirli0 Bett's big and boisterous bunyuns bugged the bajeebers out of Bill. Jan 10, 2007