roister
Americanverb (used without object)
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to act in a swaggering, boisterous, or uproarious manner.
-
to revel noisily or without restraint.
verb
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to engage in noisy merrymaking; revel
-
to brag, bluster, or swagger
Other Word Forms
- roisterer noun
- roisterous adjective
- roisterously adverb
Etymology
Origin of roister
First recorded in 1545–55; verb use of roister (noun), from Middle French ru(i)stre “ruffian, boor,” variant of ru(i)ste “rural” ( rustic )
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.
After that roistering swagger, the poem unexpectedly closes with the conjunction of the wistful and worldly:
From Washington Post
At last only two of that roistering, impudent band were left, the priest of the suitors and their bard.
From Literature
“The Masque of the Red Death” was Corman’s audacious attempt to make an art film for the drive-in crowd — a feast of roistering revelry with intimations of Buñuel, Fellini and Bergman.
From New York Times
Their tails had become sticky with pine sap, then got knotted together as the squirrels roistered around.
From Washington Post
David Wolkowsky, 99, a visionary developer and preservationist who helped transform Key West, Florida, from a roistering former Navy town into a bohemian haven and a tourist destination, died there last Sunday.
From Seattle Times
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.
