unruly

Meanings

1. 1adjectivecomparable

   Hard to control because of being noisy, rebellious or badly behaved.

   Grammar: Describes people or groups: unruly children, an unruly crowd.

   Patterns

   • an unruly crowd
   • unruly behavior

   The teacher struggled to calm the unruly class.

   Police were called to deal with an unruly crowd outside the stadium.

   The puppy was lively and unruly during its first week.

2. 2adjectivecomparable

   Refusing to stay tidy or lie flat, especially of hair.

   Grammar: Used for hair or plants: unruly curls, an unruly hedge.

   Patterns

   • unruly hair
   • an unruly mop of something

   She tamed her unruly curls with a wide comb.

   His unruly hair stood up in every direction.

   The unruly hedge hid half the window.

Word forms

Common combinations

unruly behavior

Unruly behavior on the flight led to a warning.

unruly crowd

An unruly crowd gathered at the gates.

unruly hair

Humidity makes my unruly hair even wilder.

unruly child

The unruly child kept climbing on the tables.

unruly passenger

An unruly passenger was escorted off the train.

Synonyms and how they differ

disorderly

Disorderly stresses breaking rules or public order, while unruly stresses being hard to control.

rowdy

Rowdy implies loud and rough fun, which is milder than the defiance suggested by unruly.

wayward

Wayward suggests someone who stubbornly goes their own way, rather than group noise.

disobedient

Disobedient describes refusing to follow orders in particular, while unruly is a general lack of control.

Opposites

Word family

unruliness noun

the state of being hard to control

rule noun

an instruction that guides behavior

ruly adjective

rare word for well-ordered, from which unruly is formed

misrule noun

bad or disorderly government

Commonly confused: unruly or unruled?

Practice

Make it your own

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

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