Meaning & use
ruly
Last updated
UK/ˈruːli/
US/ˈruli/
Meaning
adjectivecomparablerare
Following rules and behaving in an orderly, controlled way, the opposite of unruly.
Grammar: Can be used before a noun or after be: a ruly class, the class is ruly.
Patterns
- a ruly child
- be ruly
After lunch the normally noisy children were surprisingly ruly.
She wished her classroom were more ruly.
A ruly crowd made it easy for the police.
Word forms
| comparative | rulier |
|---|---|
| superlative | ruliest |
Common combinations
- ruly behavior
- The teacher praised the ruly behavior of the group.
- ruly crowd
- The ruly crowd waited patiently in line.
- far from ruly
- The meeting was far from ruly.
- ruly and obedient
- The pupils were ruly and obedient.
Synonyms and how they differ
- orderly
- Orderly is the normal everyday word and sounds much more natural than ruly.
- well-behaved
- Well-behaved is typical for children and pets, while ruly is a rare literary-sounding choice.
- disciplined
- Disciplined suggests strong self-control or training, not just following rules.
- obedient
- Obedient means doing what you are told, while ruly means keeping to rules in general.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: ruly or unruly?
ruly vs unruly
Unruly is the common word meaning hard to control; ruly is its rare opposite.
Practice
The teacher hoped the students would be more ____ and less noisy.
Choose one answer.
Ruly means orderly and following rules, which contrasts with noisy. Unruly would mean the opposite.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ruly”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
Your sentence stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.