Adjacent Words

Unruly definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

UNRU'LY, a.
1. Disregarding restraint; licentious; disposed to violate laws; turbulent; ungovernable; as an unruly youth.
The tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil. James 4.
2. Accustomed to break over fences and escape from inclosures; apt to break or leap fences; as an unruly ox.
The owner of the unruly ox paid a sum of money, as a civil penalty for the ransom of his life.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: noisy and lacking in restraint or discipline; "a boisterous crowd"; "a social gathering that became rambunctious and out of hand"; "a robustious group of teenagers"; "beneath the rumbustious surface of his paintings is sympathy for the vulnerability of ordinary human beings"; "an unruly class" [syn: boisterous, rambunctious, robustious, rumbustious, unruly]
2: unwilling to submit to authority; "unruly teenagers" [syn: disobedient, unruly]
3: of persons; "the little boy's parents think he is spirited, but his teacher finds him unruly" [syn: indocile, uncontrollable, ungovernable, unruly]

Merriam Webster's

adjective (unrulier; -est) Etymology: Middle English unreuly, from un- + reuly disciplined, from reule rule Date: 15th century not readily ruled, disciplined, or managed <an unruly crowd> <a mane of unruly hair> • unruliness noun Synonyms: unruly, ungovernable, intractable, refractory, recalcitrant, willful, headstrong mean not submissive to government or control. unruly implies lack of discipline or incapacity for discipline and often connotes waywardness or turbulence of behavior <unruly children>. ungovernable implies either an escape from control or guidance or a state of being unsubdued and incapable of controlling oneself or being controlled by others <ungovernable rage>. intractable suggests stubborn resistance to guidance or control <intractable opponents of the hazardous-waste dump>. refractory stresses resistance to attempts to manage or to mold <special schools for refractory children>. recalcitrant suggests determined resistance to or defiance of authority <acts of sabotage by a recalcitrant populace>. willful implies an obstinate determination to have one's own way <a willful disregard for the rights of others>. headstrong suggests self-will impatient of restraint, advice, or suggestion <a headstrong young cavalry officer>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. (unrulier, unruliest) not easily controlled or disciplined, disorderly. Derivatives: unruliness n. Etymology: ME f. UN-(1) + ruly f. RULE

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Unruly Un*rul"y, a. [Compar. Unrulier, superl. Unruliest.] [Pref. un- not + rule. Cf. Ruly.] Not submissive to rule; disregarding restraint; disposed to violate; turbulent; ungovernable; refractory; as, an unruly boy; unruly boy; unruly conduct. But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. --James iii. 8.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. If you describe people, especially children, as unruly, you mean that they behave badly and are difficult to control. It's not good enough just to blame the unruly children. ...unruly behaviour. ADJ 2. Unruly hair is difficult to keep tidy. The man had a huge head of remarkably black, unruly hair. ADJ: usu ADJ n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Turbulent, ungovernable, refractory, disobedient, insubordinate, mutinous, riotous, seditious, rebellious, disorderly, headstrong. 2. Refractory, vicious, stubborn, unmanageable, ungovernable, rebellious.

Moby Thesaurus

abandoned, anarchial, anarchic, anarchistic, antinomian, beyond control, boisterous, breachy, chaotic, contrary, contumacious, defiant, disobedient, disorderly, disorganized, fractious, froward, go-go, hard, headstrong, immoderate, impatient of control, incontinent, incorrigible, indocile, indomitable, indulgent, insubordinate, insuppressible, intemperate, intractable, irrepressible, lawless, lax, licentious, loose, mutinous, naughty, nihilistic, nonrestrictive, obstreperous, ornery, out of control, out of hand, permissive, perverse, raffish, rambunctious, rampageous, rampant, raucous, rebellious, recalcitrant, refractory, reinless, resistant, resisting, restive, revolutionary, riotous, rowdy, rowdyish, ruffianly, rumbustious, shrewish, stormy, stubborn, syndicalistic, tempestuous, termagant, terrorist, tough, tumultuous, turbulent, unbiddable, unbridled, unchecked, uncoerced, uncompelled, unconstrained, uncontrollable, uncontrolled, uncooperative, uncurbed, undisciplined, unforced, ungovernable, ungoverned, uninhibited, unmalleable, unmanageable, unmastered, unmeasured, unmoldable, unmuzzled, unreined, unrepressed, unreserved, unrestrained, unrestrictive, unsubdued, unsubmissive, unsuppressed, untoward, violent, wanton, wayward, wild