verb
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(tr) to make (a liquid) cloudy or turbid by stirring up dregs or sediment
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(intr) (esp of a liquid) to be agitated or disturbed
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dialect (intr) to be noisy or boisterous
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(tr) another word (now rare) for rile
Other Word Forms
- unroiled adjective
Etymology
Origin of roil
First recorded in 1580–90; origin uncertain
Explanation
To roil means to stir up or churn. A stormy ocean might roil, or even a restless crowd. The word roil is often confused with rile, which has a slightly different meaning. If you roil someone you're stirring them up but not necessarily annoying them. To rile someone is to deliberately provoke or antagonize them. Usually there's no roiling without riling. Muhammad Ali roiled much of America when he refused to be drafted for the Vietnam War.
Vocabulary lists containing roil
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List 6
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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.
Besides stealing potential Wall Street customers, bucket shops could roil the capital markets.
From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026
Besides stealing potential Wall Street customers, bucket shops could roil the capital markets.
From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026
A jump in gas prices is threatening to roil the U.S. auto industry that has leaned in to gas-powered vehicles and pulled back from electric options.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 10, 2026
Debates about his significant role in The Beatles’ story roil into the present day.
From Salon • Jan. 15, 2026
Aru’s guilt was beginning to roil in her stomach.
From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi
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.
