ENGLISH
REFERENCE

unruly

adj.
B2 Upper Intermediate US //ənˈɹuɫi// UK //ʌnɹˈuːli// un·ruly

adj. difficult to control or keep organized. You use this to describe people who do not follow rules or hair that will not stay neat.

adj. disorderly and disruptive; not amenable to discipline or control. Often used to describe crowds, children, or physical objects like hair that resist grooming.


SIMPLE

The teacher struggled to manage the unruly class.

CONTEXTUAL

After the game ended in a draw, an unruly crowd gathered outside the stadium to protest the referee's decision.

COMPLEX

The biographer describes the poet's unruly early years, characterized by a refusal to conform to social expectations and a series of public disagreements with his peers.

Synonyms
Origin

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.

Usage

Typically used both attributively before a noun and predicatively after a linking verb like 'become' or 'grow'.

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