unruly
Americanadjective
adjective
Synonym Usage
Unruly, intractable, recalcitrant, refractory describe persons or things that resist management or control. Unruly suggests persistently disorderly behavior or character in persons or things: an unruly child, peevish and willful; wild, unruly hair. Intractable suggests in persons a determined resistance to all attempts to guide or direct them, in things a refusal to respond to attempts to shape, improve, or modify them: an intractable social rebel; a seemingly intractable problem in logistics. recalcitrant and refractory imply not only a lack of submissiveness but also an open, often violent, rebellion against authority or direction. Recalcitrant, the stronger of the two terms, suggests a stubborn and absolute noncompliance: a recalcitrant person, openly contemptuous of all authority. Refractory implies active, mulish disobedience, but leaves open the possibility of eventual compliance: refractory students, resisting efforts to interest them in their studies.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unruly
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English unruely, equivalent to un- un- 1 + ruly, ruely “governable, controllable”; see rule, -y 1
Explanation
Unruly means lacking in restraint or not submitting to authority. Spitballs, shouting kids, a shouting teacher — these are all signs of an unruly classroom. Often, one unruly student is all it takes. It's easy to see how un- ("not") and ruly ("rule") create a word that is all about not following rules. When someone is unruly, they've thrown the rules out of the window. An unruly person refuses to obey authority, while an unruly piece of hair might refuse to stay inside a clip. And if a cat herder had trouble corralling kittens for a parade, there would be unruly kittens everywhere!
Vocabulary lists containing unruly
List 6
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"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act II
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Tears of a Tiger
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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.
See Examples For:
But there’s affection in Jean’s moralizing, as he brings out his own comb to run it through Berenger’s unruly hair—where it gets stuck.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
We scroll through videos starring unruly passengers or mangled bags, and read about the last resting place for lost luggage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
As a general rule, the individual components of quantum machines become increasingly unruly as they grow larger, causing error rates to spike.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
That said, Mr. Dasgupta’s writing is often unruly, shooting off in many directions at once.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
His reflection flashed back, revealing a thin face with unruly dark hair escaping from beneath a traditional beaded cap.
From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai
If you like hockey but wish it was slower, unrulier and hot doggier, boy do I have a solution for you.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 21, 2024
“It’s become clear over the past two summers that these crowds will only grow larger and unrulier unless something changes.”
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 29, 2023
In a good year, though — and this is one — the event can feel like the unrulier, at times more adventurous younger sibling of the New York Film Festival.
From New York Times ● Apr. 19, 2022
This year, Miley Cyrus will host NBC’s New Year’s coverage with the “Saturday Night Live” star Pete Davidson, bringing a younger, unrulier energy to a gig that has been held by Carson Daly since 2004.
From New York Times ● Dec. 30, 2021
But avoiding the unrulier parts of town has proved impossible, says Kirsten Knight, who has been in charge of housing the thousands of G20 delegates coming to Hamburg this week.
From Time ● Jul. 6, 2017
The good news is Freiman has written one of the funniest and unruliest novels in ages.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2023
But this is that rare movie that transcends its role as pure entertainment to become something genuinely cathartic, even therapeutic, giving children a symbolic language with which to manage their unruliest emotions.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 17, 2015
Now, with the once-predictable monsoon becoming a wild card, one of the unruliest rivers in the world is growing increasingly tempestuous.
From New York Times ● Jan. 23, 2013
With due allowance for rhetoric, the autocratic ruler of one of the world's unruliest unions was not exaggerating.
From Time Magazine Archive
The unruliest of men bend before the leader that has the sense to see and the will to do.
From Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry by Albert Pike
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.
