hurly-burly

[hur-lee-bur-lee, -bur-]

noun

plural

hurly-burlies 

1. noisy disorder and confusion; commotion; uproar; tumult.

adjective

1. full of commotion; tumultuous.

hurly-burly

/ ˈhɜːlɪˈbɜːlɪ /

noun

1. confusion or commotion

adjective

1. turbulent

Word History and Origins

Origin of hurly-burly¹

1520–30; alteration of hurling ( and ) burling, rhyming phrase based on hurling in its (now obsolete) sense of tumult, uproar

Word History and Origins

Origin of hurly-burly¹

C16: from earlier hurling and burling, rhyming phrase based on hurling in obsolete sense of uproar

Example Sentences

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.

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Yet by 2021’s “Solar Power,” Lorde was singing about abandoning the hurly-burly of pop stardom in the always-on social-media era.

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In addition, the FBI said it was investigating a possible shooting that had taken place amid the hurly-burly of protests outside the gates of Glass House, one of the largest legal cannabis operations in the state.

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But mostly for my parents, who had worked so hard for so many years to create a refuge from the hurly-burly of the outside world.

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Mustard admires the fact that, rather than engage in the hurly-burly of social media, Lamar will disappear from public view for long stretches of time.

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