rambunctious
[ ram-buhngk-shuh s ]
/ ræmˈbʌŋk ʃəs /
adjective
difficult to control or handle; wildly boisterous: a rambunctious child.
turbulently active and noisy: a social gathering that became rambunctious and out of hand.
RELATED CONTENT
How To Be Less Forgetful And Remember EverythingWhat are mnemonics? Whether or not you loved school, there are several fictitious figures you should thank for your education. Your Dear Aunt Sally, for example, as well as your Very Educated (or Excited, Eccentric, Elephantine) Mother, and Roy G. Biv. Also, be grateful that All Cows Eat Grass; those cows saved your ‘rhymes-with-grass’ in music class. Has this collection of relatives and cows sent you …
RELATED WORDS
Nearby words
- rambling,
- ramblingly,
- rambo,
- ramboesque,
- rambouillet,
- rambutan,
- ramc,
- rameau,
- rameau, jean philippe,
- ramekin
Origin of rambunctious
An Americanism dating back to 1820–30; origin uncertain
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for rambunctious
rambunctious
/ (ræmˈbʌŋkʃəs) /
adjective
informal boisterous; unruly
Word Origin for rambunctious
C19: probably from Icelandic ram- (intensifying prefix) + -bunctious, from bumptious
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
rambunctious
1859, earlier rumbunctious, 1830, probably altered (by influence of ram) from rumbustious.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper