Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Lacking regular or logical order or arrangement.
  • adjective Undisciplined; unruly.
  • adjective Law Disturbing the public peace or decorum.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A person accused or guilty of disorderly conduct.
  • Without order, rule, or method; irregularly; confusedly; in a disordered manner.
  • In a manner violating law and good order; in a manner contrary to rules or established institutions.
  • Being without proper order or disposition; confused; unmethodical; irregular: as, the books and papers are in a disorderly state.
  • Not kept in restraint; unrestrained; tumultuous; turbulent.
  • Lawless; violating or disposed to violate law and good order, or the restraints of morality; specifically, so conducted as to be a nuisance; disreputable: as, a disorderly house.
  • Inclined to break loose from restraint; unruly: as, disorderly cattle.
  • Not acting in an orderly or regular way, as the functions of the body.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Not in order; marked by disorder; disarranged; immethodical.
  • adjective Not acting in an orderly way, as the functions of the body or mind.
  • adjective Not complying with the restraints of order and law; tumultuous; unruly; lawless; turbulent
  • adjective (Law) Offensive to good morals and public decency; notoriously offensive.
  • adverb In a disorderly manner; without law or order; irregularly; confusedly.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Not in order; causing disorder; unorganized

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective completely unordered and unpredictable and confusing
  • adjective undisciplined and unruly
  • adjective in utter disorder

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Separately, IntercontinentalExchange Inc. said Friday that it fined Goldman Sachs Group Inc. £25,000 $40,500 for what it described as disorderly trading on the price difference between Nymex and Brent futures.

    FTC Launches Oil-Trade Probe Tennille Tracy 2011

  • Separately, IntercontinentalExchange Inc. said Friday that it fined Goldman Sachs Group Inc. £25,000 $40,500 for what it described as disorderly trading on the price difference between Nymex and Brent futures.

    FTC Launches Oil-Trade Probe Tennille Tracy 2011

  • Separately, IntercontinentalExchange Inc. said Friday that it fined Goldman Sachs Group Inc. £25,000 $40,500 for what it described as disorderly trading on the price difference between Nymex and Brent futures.

    FTC Launches Oil-Trade Probe Tennille Tracy 2011

  • Japanese authorities have said its previous episodes of intervention in the foreign-exchange markets were efforts to smooth out what they call disorderly market adjustments.

    As Swiss Act on Franc, Investors Watch Yen David Cottle 2011

  • “It is alleged that Mr. Lovell engaged in disorderly conduct and disrupted parking services when he sent an e-mail to them that was threatening.”

    Student gets in trouble for e-mail on scooter parking Valerie Strauss 2010

  • We will arrest you if you engage in disorderly conduct.

    Non-hate crime in Austin, TX. - Moe_Lane’s blog - RedState 2009

  • By analogy, it can be said of the intellectual development of the child, that the mind of infancy, although characteristically disorderly, is also "a means searching for its end," which goes through exhausting experiments, left, as it frequently is, to its own resources, and too often really persecuted.

    The Montessori Method Anne E. Montessori George 1912

  • Any abrupt form of Greek default, caused by the lenders failing to lend or the Greeks missing a bond payment, would be what is known as "disorderly", an eventuality that would play out as anything from a mild local spasm to a full-scale continent-wide meltdown, featuring the collapse first of the

    The Guardian World News John Lanchester 2011

  • Worries over the U.S. debt debate have eclipsed those in Europe after last week's rescue package for Greece reined in fears that the country would suffer what is known as a disorderly default on its debts.

    SFGate: Top News Stories By PAN PYLAS 2011

  • Worries over the U.S. debt debate have eclipsed those in Europe after last week's rescue package for Greece reined in fears that the country would suffer what is known as a disorderly default on its debts.

    The Seattle Times 2011

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