boisterous
Americanadjective
-
rough and noisy; noisily jolly or rowdy; clamorous; unrestrained.
the sound of boisterous laughter.
- Synonyms:
- wild, violent, turbulent, tumultuous, tempestuous, impetuous, vociferous, loud, obstreperous, uproarious
-
(of waves, weather, wind, etc.) rough and stormy.
- Synonyms:
- wild, violent, turbulent, tumultuous, tempestuous
-
Obsolete. rough and massive.
adjective
-
noisy and lively; unrestrained or unruly
-
(of the wind, sea, etc) turbulent or stormy
Other Word Forms
- boisterously adverb
- boisterousness noun
- unboisterous adjective
- unboisterously adverb
- unboisterousness noun
Etymology
Origin of boisterous
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English boistrous, variant of Middle English boistous “crude, fierce, gross, strong”; of obscure origin; possibly from Old French boisteus “lame,” from boist(e) “box,” also “cavity containing an organ, cavity in a bone” (ultimately from Late Latin buxis; box 1 ( def. ) ) + -eus -eous ( def. )
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.
In 1996, David Keating cast her as Cathleen, the boisterous mother to a sullen teenager played by Jared Leto in “The Last of the High Kings.”
From Salon • Feb. 4, 2026
“White Lotus” stars Jason Isaacs and Aimee Lou Wood shared a boisterous laugh, while Powell made sure his parents were in his range of sight.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 12, 2026
The game was played out amid a boisterous atmosphere in a stadium packed with Algerian fans in a crowd of 18,522.
From Barron's • Dec. 28, 2025
So dynamic and so boisterous is the experience of the entrance that the rest of the building cannot help but feel anticlimactic.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 17, 2025
I had the quiet determination of my mother, he had the boisterous nature of Abu and his brothers, but we were best friends.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
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.
