Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Difficult or impossible to discipline, control, or rule.
- adjective Difficult to keep in place or in order.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Not according to rule; irregularly.
- Disposed to resist rule or lawful restraint, or to violate laws laid down; lawless; turbulent; ungovernable; refractory; disorderly; tumultuous: as, an unruly child.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Not submissive to rule; disregarding restraint; disposed to violate; turbulent; ungovernable; refractory
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
wild ;uncontrolled
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective of persons
- adjective noisy and lacking in restraint or discipline
- adjective unwilling to submit to authority
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Principal Hector Espinoza has taken the unusual step of canceling the final seven games of the Cougars season after the team had engaged in what he called unruly behavior during competition.
Fore, right! 2009
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It acts as a kind of palimpsest over which the literary writer might inscribe his/her own variations on "criminal" behavior and its sources in unruly human impulses.
February 2010 2010
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It acts as a kind of palimpsest over which the literary writer might inscribe his/her own variations on "criminal" behavior and its sources in unruly human impulses.
Genre Fiction 2010
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She looked at his hands, the backs of which were covered in unruly black hair.
Shortcomings of the Immediate World Jonathan Sapers 2010
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It acts as a kind of palimpsest over which the literary writer might inscribe his/her own variations on "criminal" behavior and its sources in unruly human impulses.
What's Going On? 2010
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It acts as a kind of palimpsest over which the literary writer might inscribe his/her own variations on "criminal" behavior and its sources in unruly human impulses.
Comedy in Literature 2010
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It reaches up the poles and strives in unruly tufts down where the trees harbor their gloom.
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Nip off the leaves that are faded, prune in unruly shoots, see if any need re-potting.
Gardening by Myself 1872
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As soon as practicable he called the unruly body to order, beat upon the rude desk to enforce attention, and, in the lull that succeeded, briefly defined the purpose of the meeting, ending with introducing the speaker and craving for her their respectful attention.
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As soon as practicable he called the unruly body to order, beat upon the rude desk to enforce attention, and, in the lull that succeeded, briefly defined the purpose of the meeting, ending with introducing the speaker and craving for her their respectful attention.
Under Ban--A Sketch. 1869
sonofgroucho commented on the word unruly
Is there such a word as ruly? It seems there is!
August 5, 2007