unruly

CEFRB2

/ʌnˈɹuːli/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Difficult to control or manage because of disorderly behavior.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Wild; uncontrolled.

Examples

  • The farmer was patient with the unruly horse.

  • The soldiers decimated the unruly population.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
2
Parts of speech
1
Citations
2

Deep Dive

More examples

In context

  • Richard DeLongpre: Are you okay, my boy angel? Allen Gregory DeLongpre: I have a broken heart. And undergarments filled with my own unruly waste.

  • The police gathered to contain the unruly mob.

  • The bar had two entrances, one on Barrow and another via Bedford, and “86” referred to the address of the door from which intoxicated or unruly guests would be ejected.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The teacher struggled to control the blank students who were shouting and throwing paper.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

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.