unruly
Americanadjective
adjective
Related Words
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
- unruliness noun
Etymology
Origin of unruly
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English unruely, equivalent to un- un- 1 + ruly, ruely “governable, controllable”; rule, -y 1
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.
Then I heard Daisy say, “Well, it says in my nursing book that when a patient gets unruly, a nurse is supposed to be stern.”
From Literature
According to the lawsuit, Cuellar and Tipping signed up for training that instructs bicycle officers on dealing with unruly people.
From Los Angeles Times
One explanation for the basin’s resilience is that the unruly, debt-fueled frackers that would retreat when prices fell have died off.
He scowled at her, his hair more than usually unruly, his face strained.
From Literature
She smoothed an unruly curl that had sprung from her bun back away from her eyes.
From Literature
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.
