hurly-burly
Americannoun
plural
hurly-burliesadjective
noun
adjective
Etymology
Origin of hurly-burly
1520–30; alteration of hurling ( and ) burling, rhyming phrase based on hurling in its (now obsolete) sense of tumult, uproar
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Mr. Howard observes that his preference for country living distinguished him in the book world, and he spent a lot of his adult life in small-town Connecticut, serenely removed from the urban hurly-burly.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 7, 2025
New Year’s Day in 1893 fell on a Sunday, and lest the hurly-burly frighten the horses at the churches along the route, it was put off until the next day.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 27, 2022
The petite 20-year-old has carved out a small patch of influence in the male-dominated hurly-burly of Kenyan politics, in the informal settlement of Kibra in the capital, Nairobi, where she lives.
From BBC • Jun. 24, 2022
Nothing matches the profound satisfaction of a young voice piercing the hurly-burly between classes, shouting out, “Mr. Pedraza! The best substitute ever!”
From Washington Post • Nov. 3, 2021
Declarations of principled withdrawal from the hurly-burly of politics to the natural rhythms of one’s fields or farms had become rhetorical rituals.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
