rambunctious
Americanadjective
-
difficult to control or handle; wildly boisterous.
a rambunctious child.
-
turbulently active and noisy.
a social gathering that became rambunctious and out of hand.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of rambunctious
An Americanism dating back to 1820–30; origin uncertain
Explanation
Rambunctious means "noisy and out of control," like a rambunctious child who is so hard to handle that no babysitter has ever come back a second time. People who are rambunctious, pronounced "ram-BUNK-shus," can be fun — to a point. Laughing a little too loudly, or too often, seems refreshing at first — so what if people sitting at other tables have started to look over? But after a while, rambunctious behavior makes you feel tired. You never know when the high energy of the rambunctious is going to cross over to obnoxiousness, when things will spill, feelings get hurt, and apologies need to be made.
Vocabulary lists containing rambunctious
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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.
As rambunctious teenagers, we chafed when they insisted we join them in digging plants near our house.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
Shanghai made history this week: the first Asian metropolis to be invited as the city of honour to Barcelona's famously rambunctious cultural festival, La Merce.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
He seemed unwilling or unable to pass up the chance to listen to the endless, empty flattery coming from the stage, along with the cheers of thousands of rambunctious supporters.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
Josh is a lecturer at the Allbritton Journalism Institute and the enthusiastic owner of a rambunctious rescue dog named Pepper.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
Gabe had been young then, only eight, a rambunctious resident of the Children’s House, happiest with solitary adventures and disinterested in schoolwork.
From "Son" by Lois Lowry
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
