un·ru·ly

(ŭn-ro͞o′lē)

adj. un·ru·li·er, un·ru·li·est

1. Difficult or impossible to discipline, control, or rule: The substitute teacher faced unruly students in the classroom.

2. Difficult to keep in place or in order: tried to comb his unruly hair; trimmed back the unruly bushes.

[Middle English unreuli : un-, not; see un-¹ + reuli, easy to govern (from reule, rule; see rule).]

un·ru′li·ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

unruliness - the trait of being prone to disobedience and lack of discipline

fractiousness, wilfulness, willfulness

intractability, intractableness - the trait of being hard to influence or control

contrariness, perverseness, perversity - deliberate and stubborn unruliness and resistance to guidance or discipline

wildness - an unruly disposition to do as one pleases; "Liza had always had a tendency to wildness"; "the element of wildness in his behavior was a protest against repressive convention"

unruliness

noun

The quality or condition of being unruly:

disorderliness, fractiousness, indocility, intractability, intractableness, obstinacy, obstinateness, obstreperousness, recalcitrance, recalcitrancy, refractoriness, uncontrollability, uncontrollableness, ungovernableness, unmanageability, untowardness, wildness.

Translations

عَدَم الإنضِباط، صُعوبَة المِراس

nekázeň

uregerlighed

Unbändigkeit

indiscipline

óstÿrilæti

ustyrlighet vilterhet

spurnosť

azgınlıktaşkınlık

难控制

unruliness

n → Wildheit f, → Ungebärdigkeit f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

unruly

(anˈruːli) adjective

uncontrollable or disorderly. unruly teenagers/behaviour.

unˈruliness noun

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

There was no warning, no fighting for the bit, no previous unruliness. I have been thinking it over.

View in context

And I can't live in either." Benfey suggests that Kipling held a conflicted affection for America similar to the one he had for India; both outposts shared an appealing unruliness and offered a limitlessness that stodgy old England could never supply.

The complicated legacy of Rudyard Kipling: An engaging account of the years Rudyard Kipling spent in the United States considers how America shaped him and his work--and how he shaped America

Nyanza director of Education Richard Chepkawai said on Thursday that 'most insecurity incidences in schools are linked to unruliness. We must get ways of dealing with such preventable situations.'

Nyanza principals directed to instal CCTV cameras and boost security

They had me at 'controls frizz' because Dubai's weather is bringing out all the unruliness from my locks.

The Beauty Beat: What's new in beauty

Most may see these children as nuisance on account of their unruliness, but few wonder about the harsh realities street children experience day-to-day.

Punjab to take street kids under their wing

* Unruliness, knocking over furniture and jumping up on people;

It's important to exercise your dog, even during winter

"Taxify is where the masses are, the platform's free-wheeling nature has encouraged unruliness on the driver's side," said an official affiliated to one of the driver associations, who requested anonymity for fear of victimisation."Uber has its own standards, which you have to strictly follow, Little is now becoming stricter but drivers are still able to cheat the system," he said.

Rogue Taxify, Little Cab drivers putting lives of riders at risk

Someone claimed to be spat on, punches were thrown, and three players had to be ejected from the game as the unruliness spilled over into the crowd.

NBA fracas, Jose Mourinho's antics prove action needed to prevent rise of violence in sport

The height of rumpus and unruliness created in the Punjab Assembly obliged the speaker to ban entry of the six members of the opposition to the house during the budget session.

PML-N and the by-poll boon

Many great dogs are often overlooked at shelters due to behavioral issues such as protest when left alone, different levels of separation anxiety, unruliness, barking, poor house manners, and housebreaking.

From Shelter to Solider--Meet Our Dog Kai

Ten days before the elections were scheduled to be held, when the emotions of party activists and their unruliness ran high, the Ayesha Chundrigar Foundation (ACF) for animal welfare received a call about a severely injured donkey that had been found in Karachi's Gulshan-i-Iqbal area.

Animal abuse