rambunctious
Americanadjective
-
difficult to control or handle; wildly boisterous.
a rambunctious child.
-
turbulently active and noisy.
a social gathering that became rambunctious and out of hand.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of rambunctious
An Americanism dating back to 1820–30; origin uncertain
Explanation
Rambunctious means "noisy and out of control," like a rambunctious child who is so hard to handle that no babysitter has ever come back a second time. People who are rambunctious, pronounced "ram-BUNK-shus," can be fun — to a point. Laughing a little too loudly, or too often, seems refreshing at first — so what if people sitting at other tables have started to look over? But after a while, rambunctious behavior makes you feel tired. You never know when the high energy of the rambunctious is going to cross over to obnoxiousness, when things will spill, feelings get hurt, and apologies need to be made.
Vocabulary lists containing rambunctious
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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.
Rambunctious children become expressionless, silent gawpers while under the spell of the tablets, against which Woody and pals are largely helpless to compete.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 18, 2026
Rambunctious and astute, the toddler heroine of the sublimely beautiful animated film “Little Amélie or the Character of Rain” first communicates in voiceover from the void of nothingness before birth.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 7, 2025
Emma Marris, an environmental writer and author of Rambunctious Garden, warns us not to fall into the trap of individual guilt.
From Slate • Apr. 21, 2020
Rambunctious, he careened down hallways and crawled into Baker’s washing machine.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 21, 2017
Rambunctious teenagers mixed with strolling couples in a carnival-like setting.
From New York Times • Jan. 17, 2017
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.
