unruly

[uhn-roo-lee] / ʌnˈru li /

ADJECTIVE

disobedient

Synonyms

STRONGEST

disorderly drunken fractious impulsive lawless ornery quarrelsome rebellious recalcitrant reckless restive riotous rowdy turbulent uncontrollable unmanageable violent wayward

WEAK

assertive bawdy forward headstrong heedless impervious impetuous imprudent incorrigible inexorable insubordinate intemperate intractable mean mutinous obstreperous opinionated out of control out of line perverse rash refractory ungovernable unyielding wild willful

Antonyms

STRONGEST

agreeable calm cautious controllable happy manageable mild moderate obedient passive patient

WEAK

compliant yielding

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The dill should read bright and grassy, a little unruly.

From Salon • Apr. 14, 2026

Last month, another American Airlines flight, from New York to Chicago, made an emergency landing in Detroit because an unruly passenger was demanding that the plane land.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 10, 2026

It was Bell Labs’ responsibility, in other words, to create technologies for designing, expanding and improving an unruly communications network of cables and microwave links and glass fibers.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 28, 2026

A supreme court ruling reportedly issued Tuesday afternoon appears to have blocked the post-mortems, but not before unruly protest scenes broke out on Tuesday in Jerusalem and other Israeli cities, according to police.

From Barron's • Jan. 20, 2026

I tried not to think about Mr. Pirzada, in his lime-scented overcoat, connected to the unruly, sweltering world we had viewed a few hours ago in our bright, carpeted living room.

From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri

Vocabulary lists containing unruly

List 6

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"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act II

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Tears of a Tiger

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