rowdy

Meanings

1. 1adjectivecomparable

   Loud, wild, and hard to control, usually describing a group of people who are being disruptive.

   Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: a rowdy crowd, the crowd was rowdy.

   Patterns

   • rowdy behavior
   • get rowdy

   The rowdy fans sang and shouted all through the match.

   The party got rowdy after midnight, and the neighbors complained.

   A rowdy group of students filled the back of the bus.

2. 2nouncountableold-fashioned

   A person who behaves roughly and noisily and may start trouble, especially in public.

   Grammar: Countable: a rowdy, some rowdies; now somewhat old-fashioned.

   Patterns

   • a gang of rowdies

   Police removed a few rowdies from the bar.

   The mayor blamed a handful of rowdies for the damage.

   In old newspapers, young rowdies were often blamed for street fights.

Word forms

Common combinations

rowdy crowd

A rowdy crowd gathered outside the stadium.

rowdy behavior

The club banned him for rowdy behavior.

get rowdy

Things got rowdy when the band came on.

rowdy party

They held a rowdy party that lasted until dawn.

rowdy children

The teacher struggled with a class of rowdy children.

Synonyms and how they differ

boisterous

Boisterous suggests cheerful, high-spirited noise, and rowdy has a more negative sense of disorder.

unruly

Unruly stresses refusing to obey rules or control, while rowdy stresses the noise and roughness.

raucous

Raucous mainly describes harsh, loud sounds, whereas rowdy describes the behavior of people.

disorderly

Disorderly is more formal and often used in legal wording, such as disorderly conduct.

Opposites

Word family

rowdily adverb

in a loud, disorderly way

rowdiness noun

loud, rough behavior

rowdyism noun

rowdy behavior as a habit

Commonly confused: rowdy or rowdy and raucous?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “rowdy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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