hurly-burly

American  

[hur-lee-bur-lee, -bur-] / ˈhɜr liˈbɜr li, -ˌbɜr- /

noun

plural

hurly-burlies

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

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adjective

1. full of commotion; tumultuous.

hurly-burly British  

/ ˈhɜːlɪˈbɜːlɪ /

noun

1. confusion or commotion

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adjective

1. turbulent

Etymology

Origin of hurly-burly

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

From The Wall Street Journal

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

From Los Angeles Times

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.

From Los Angeles Times

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.

From Los Angeles Times

The idea was that it would be a space of refuge, the embodiment of freedom and creativity, just blocks from the hurly-burly of undergraduate housing, restaurants, bars and bookstores that form the heart of Berkeley’s southside.

From Los Angeles Times