Link Centre Dictionary

boisterous

bois·te·rous

UK/ˈbɔɪstəɹəs/ US/ˈbɔɪstɹəs/ uncommon

adjective

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”
2.

full of rough and exuberant animal spirits

  • “boisterous practical jokes”
  • “knockabout comedy”
Synonyms
Similar
3.

violently agitated and turbulent

  • “boisterous winds and waves”
  • “the fierce thunders roar me their music” Ezra Pound
  • “rough weather”
  • “rough seas”
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

From Middle English boistres, an alteration of Middle English boistous (“crude, unrefined”), of uncertain origin. Likely from Anglo-Norman boystous, bustous (“rough, in a crude state, disabled, paralysed, unable to walk, lame”), Old French boitous (“limping; having a rough, uneven surface”).

Related words

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.