unruly

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Definitions (8)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. adjective Difficult or impossible to discipline, control, or rule.
  2. Syntax Note
    Synonyms: unruly, intractable, refractory, recalcitrant, headstrong, wayward
    These adjectives mean resistant or marked by resistance to control. Unruly implies failure to submit to rule or discipline: unruly behavior in class.
    Intractable and refractory refer to what is obstinate and difficult to manage or control: "the intractable ferocity of his captive” (Edgar Allan Poe). "The idea of ecclesiastical authority ... woke all the refractory nerves of opposition inherited from five generations of Puritans” (Harriet Beecher Stowe).
    One that is recalcitrant rebels against authority: arrested the recalcitrant protestors.
    Headstrong describe one obstinately bent on having his or her own way: The headstrong senator ignored his constituency.
    One who is wayward willfully and often perversely departs from what is desired, advised, expected, or required: "a lively child, who had been spoilt and indulged, and therefore was sometimes wayward” (Charlotte Brontë).

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Examples

  • They were often noisy and unruly, also, in their wassail; and their quarter of the camp was prone to be a scene of loud revel and sudden brawl. —  Washington Irving
  • The man's hair was matted and unruly, his heard unkempt, and madness lit his wild eyes. —  Conan the Fearless
  • Always unruly, the state of my hair had not been improved by sleeping in close embrace with a large, damp Scot; wild tangles shot off in several directions, resisting all attempts to tame them with brush and comb. —  Dragonfly in Amber
  • It was thick and unruly, and loosed swirling on her shoulders, Roger thought it made her look suddenly very young. —  Dragonfly in Amber
  • There was also a quotation: —  Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows
 

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English unreuli : un-, not; see un-1 + reuli, easy to govern (from reule, rule; see rule).

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from un- + ruly. Cf. disruly.
  2. from unruly, a.
 

Pronunciations
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/ənˈruli/
by American Heritage

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