rowdy

[rou-dee]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR rowdy ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural row·dies.

a rough, disorderly person.

adjective, row·di·er, row·di·est.

rough and disorderly: rowdy behavior at school.

Origin of rowdy

1810–20, Americanism; perhaps irregular from row³

Related formsrow·di·ly, adverbrow·di·ness, nounun·row·dy, adjective

Synonyms for rowdy

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR rowdy ON THESAURUS.COM

2. boisterous, unruly, obstreperous.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for rowdily

strongly, seriously, vigorously, heavily, severely, angrily, briskly, brutally, cruelly, earnestly, energetically, fiercely, forcibly, frantically, furiously, intensely, madly, meanly, painfully, powerfully

Examples from the Web for rowdily

Historical Examples of rowdily

He drank a little, but rowdily, and managed to spend in a cheap tavern like the Volga as much as twenty roubles in an evening.
The House with the Mezzanine and Other Stories
Anton Tchekoff

British Dictionary definitions for rowdily

rowdy

adjective -dier or -diest

tending to create noisy disturbances; rough, loud, or disorderlya rowdy gang of football supporters

noun plural -dies

a person who behaves in a rough disorderly fashion

Derived Formsrowdily, adverbrowdiness, noun

Word Origin for rowdy

C19: originally US slang, perhaps related to row ³

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

Word Origin and History for rowdily

rowdy

"a rough, quarrelsome person," 1808, American English, originally "lawless backwoodsman," probably from row (n.2). The adjective is first recorded 1819. Related: Rowdily; rowdiness.