unruly

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments (1)  · 
“
The multitude thereupon became still more unruly, and mutinous against Moses than before.

View all »
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).

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (2)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (3)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

More examples »
 

Tags

unruly hasn't been tagged yet.

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 122 times.

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Add a related word »
Related

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

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

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
Record your own »
/ənˈruli/
by American Heritage

Charts
frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word a few times a month.

Recently looked up

blunt-force · varicella · pore · martello · tilth

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

supercalifragilistichespiralidoso · Wenn Lloyds Leute heute läuten, läuten Lloyds Leute heute laut. · telofy · ouagadougou lulu · mafia