ruckus
n.n. a loud, noisy, and often unpleasant sound. It can also describe a situation where people are shouting or fighting loudly.
n. a loud, noisy, and often chaotic disturbance. Often used to describe a sudden outbreak of noise or a scene of commotion.
The loud ruckus from the street kept me awake all night.
A sudden ruckus in the hallway made the teacher stop her lesson and investigate.
The sudden ruckus in the library was caused by a group of students who had accidentally knocked over several heavy shelves of books.
Recorded since 1890; probably a blend of ruction (“disturbance”) + rumpus (“disturbance, fracas”) - potentially with influence from raucous (“rowdy, hoarse”), from Latin raucus (“rough, hoarse”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Last updated May 19, 2026