hurly-burly
Americannoun
plural
hurly-burliesadjective
noun
adjective
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Perhaps this can be done in the midst of the hurly-burly of the professional world, but it’s not easy.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026
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 • Jan. 12, 2025
It is this connection between the well-being of people and the functioning of government that often gets lost or forgotten in the hurly-burly of debate over the locus and exercise of governing power.
From Washington Post • Jan. 20, 2023
The petite 20-year-old has carved out a small patch of influence in the male-dominated hurly-burly of Kenyan politics, in the informal settlement of Kibra in the capital, Nairobi, where she lives.
From BBC • Jun. 24, 2022
The hurly-burly of politics did not suit his temperament, which was only comfortable when ensconced on his mountaintop and redesigning his mansion at Monticello.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
