Link Centre Dictionary

unruly

un·ruly

UK/ʌnˈɹuːli/ US/ʌˈnruli/ 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”
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2.

unwilling to submit to authority

  • “unruly teenagers”
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3.

of persons

  • “the little boy”
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Origin

From Middle English unruly (“unquiet, restless”), equivalent to un- + rule + -ly (compare Middle English ruly, reuli (“subject to a religious rule, regular”)), but also representing a modified continuation of earlier Middle English unrouly, unroly (“unquiet, restless”), equivalent to un- + roolie. The latter is perhaps from or influenced by Old Norse *úróligr, related to Danish urolig (“restless”), Swedish orolig (“restless”), Icelandic órólegur (“agitated”). Compare also Middle English unroo, unro (“unrest”). More at roo.

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.