rabble-rouse
Americanverb (used without object)
Etymology
Origin of rabble-rouse
First recorded in 1955–60; back formation from rabble-rouser
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.
See Examples For:
As the tribunes, Bernardo De Paula’s Brutus and Daniel DeYoung’s Sicinius scheme and rabble-rouse with manipulative glee.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
Soon “Wins-a-ton,” as he dubs himself, is publicizing the business on radio broadcasts where he can rabble-rouse about local controversies such as the removal of Confederate monuments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025
Our son would never rabble-rouse at bedtime again.
From New York Times ● Sep. 20, 2022
If you’re concerned about the fact that the internet could be a very different place in less than two months, now is a very good time to rabble-rouse.
From Slate ● Nov. 22, 2017
There were still some mutterings at the way Khrushchev had violated diplomatic niceties and often talked beyond the Indian government to rabble-rouse the crowds against the West.
From Time Magazine Archive
A rabble-rousing, union-advocating teacher friend of mine came out of the same public schools as me, and she now teaches at a private school, primarily to pay for the discounted tuition her daughter receives.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
She first gained attention as one of the rabble-rousing and much-hyped Young British Artists of the early 1990s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Desai added that he planned to balance that rabble-rousing spirit with productions that leaned more “celebratory and communal” and provided “different ways of having catharsis.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 29, 2026
Prosecutor Ben Holt previously told the court Mr Jones used "inflammatory, rabble-rousing language in the throng of a crowd described as a tinderbox".
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2025
In those days, I was something of a rabble-rousing speaker.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
