unruly
Americanadjective
adjective
Synonym Usage
Unruly, intractable, recalcitrant, refractory describe persons or things that resist management or control. Unruly suggests persistently disorderly behavior or character in persons or things: an unruly child, peevish and willful; wild, unruly hair. Intractable suggests in persons a determined resistance to all attempts to guide or direct them, in things a refusal to respond to attempts to shape, improve, or modify them: an intractable social rebel; a seemingly intractable problem in logistics. recalcitrant and refractory imply not only a lack of submissiveness but also an open, often violent, rebellion against authority or direction. Recalcitrant, the stronger of the two terms, suggests a stubborn and absolute noncompliance: a recalcitrant person, openly contemptuous of all authority. Refractory implies active, mulish disobedience, but leaves open the possibility of eventual compliance: refractory students, resisting efforts to interest them in their studies.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unruly
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English unruely, equivalent to un- un- 1 + ruly, ruely “governable, controllable”; see rule, -y 1
Explanation
Unruly means lacking in restraint or not submitting to authority. Spitballs, shouting kids, a shouting teacher — these are all signs of an unruly classroom. Often, one unruly student is all it takes. It's easy to see how un- ("not") and ruly ("rule") create a word that is all about not following rules. When someone is unruly, they've thrown the rules out of the window. An unruly person refuses to obey authority, while an unruly piece of hair might refuse to stay inside a clip. And if a cat herder had trouble corralling kittens for a parade, there would be unruly kittens everywhere!
Vocabulary lists containing unruly
List 6
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"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act II
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Tears of a Tiger
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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.
See Examples For:
We scroll through videos starring unruly passengers or mangled bags, and read about the last resting place for lost luggage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
That said, Mr. Dasgupta’s writing is often unruly, shooting off in many directions at once.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
While Tory chief whip, Sir Gavin was said to have used Cronus to intimidate unruly MPs so they stuck to the party line.
From BBC ● May 22, 2026
The launch of an exclusive pocket watch has sparked a frenzy that forced stores worldwide to close and in some cases saw police officers and security deal with huge unruly crowds.
From BBC ● May 18, 2026
He was white, with pink cheeks, a square face, and unruly dark hair.
From "Genuine Fraud" by E. Lockhart
If you like hockey but wish it was slower, unrulier and hot doggier, boy do I have a solution for you.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 21, 2024
“It’s become clear over the past two summers that these crowds will only grow larger and unrulier unless something changes.”
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 29, 2023
It rearranged the energy in the room, made it unrulier.
From New York Times ● Apr. 6, 2022
This year, Miley Cyrus will host NBC’s New Year’s coverage with the “Saturday Night Live” star Pete Davidson, bringing a younger, unrulier energy to a gig that has been held by Carson Daly since 2004.
From New York Times ● Dec. 30, 2021
But avoiding the unrulier parts of town has proved impossible, says Kirsten Knight, who has been in charge of housing the thousands of G20 delegates coming to Hamburg this week.
From Time ● Jul. 6, 2017
The good news is Freiman has written one of the funniest and unruliest novels in ages.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2023
But this is that rare movie that transcends its role as pure entertainment to become something genuinely cathartic, even therapeutic, giving children a symbolic language with which to manage their unruliest emotions.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 17, 2015
Now, with the once-predictable monsoon becoming a wild card, one of the unruliest rivers in the world is growing increasingly tempestuous.
From New York Times ● Jan. 23, 2013
Last week, graying but as kinetic as ever at 47, Mayor Lindsay asked New Yorkers to give him four more years to try to bring the nation's unruliest city under control.
From Time Magazine Archive
The unruliest of men bend before the leader that has the sense to see and the will to do.
From Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry by Albert Pike
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.
