English Reference

Word

raucous

Phoneticsrau·cous

US/ˈɹɔkəs/

UK/ɹˈɔːkəs/

Definition

adj. making a loud, unpleasant, and noisy sound. You use this to describe voices or sounds that are very loud and not quiet.

adj. characterised by loud, harsh, or unpleasant sounds. Often describes vocalisations or environmental noise that lacks refinement.

Examples

“The crowd made a raucous noise as the team scored.”

“The raucous laughter of the students echoed through the empty halls long after the party ended.”

“The documentary captures the raucous atmosphere of the 1960s counterculture movement, focusing on the unfiltered energy of the street protests.”

Examples

simple

“The crowd made a raucous noise as the team scored.”

contextual

“The raucous laughter of the students echoed through the empty halls long after the party ended.”

complex

“The documentary captures the raucous atmosphere of the 1960s counterculture movement, focusing on the unfiltered energy of the street protests.”

Real-World Examples

“Just over a minute later, when daylight returned to the park, the crowd burst into raucous cheers.”
The Guardian · 12 Aug 2026
“The Bluebirds were good value for their point, having twice taken the lead in front of a raucous Pride Park crowd of 28,926.”
The Guardian · 22 Aug 2026

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin raucus (“hoarse, husky, raucous”).

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry

Level
C1 · Advanced
Frequency
Occasional
Updated

Scan code

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English Reference