Meanings
hubbub1
plural hubbubs · alternative hub-bub · alternative whobub
- countableA confused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously; an uproar.First known use mid 16th c.
[T]he mighty Amsterdam, […] its Exchange resounding with the endless hubbub of all the languages spoken by civilised men.
1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter IX, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume II, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 4153 more examples
They heard a noyſe of many bagpipes ſhrill, / And ſhrieking Hububs them approching nere, / VVhich all the foreſt did vvith horrour fill: […]
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 43, page 554And had not the old-man come in vvith a VVhoo-bub againſt his Daughter, and the Kings Sonne, and ſcar'd my Chovvghes from the Chaffe, I had not left a Purſe aliue in the vvhole Army.
c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iv], page 296, column 2At length a univerſal hubbub vvilde / Of ſtunning ſounds and voices all confus'd, / Born [borne] through the hollovv dark aſſaults his eare / VVith loudeſt vehemence: […]
1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC, signature H, recto, lines 951–954Synonyms: hubbuboo, hue and cry, racket, tumult
- broadlyuncountableNoisy confusion; commotion, uproar; (countable) an instance of this; an ado, a commotion.
What's all the hubbub, bub?
1943 October 30, Warren Foster, Falling Hare (Merrie Melodies; 3), spoken by Bugs Bunny (Mel Blanc), Burbank, Calif.: Warner Bros. Pictures, →OCLC5 more examples
The vvindovves clattring / And all the Chambermaides in ſuch a vvhobub, / One vvith her ſmocke halfe off, another in haſt / VVith a ſervingmans hoſe upon her head.
1610–1616 (date written), Iohn [i.e., John] Fletcher, Monsieur Thomas. A Comedy. […], London: […] Thomas Harper, for Iohn Waterson, […], published 1639, →OCLC, Act IV, scene ii, signature [H6], verso[page 123] [E]ven as they entred into the fair, all the people in the fair vvere moved, and the Tovvn it ſelf as it vvere in a Hubbub about them; […] [page 127] Then vvere theſe tvvo poor men brought before their Examiners again, and there charged as being guilty of the late Hubbub that had been in the fair.
1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC, pages 123 and 127[T]hey asked the reaſon of the hubbub, and tumult. And vvith that every man began to tell his ovvn tale, ſo that nothing could be heard diſtinctly: […]
1682, John Bunyan, “[Men of Arms Come Down]”, in The Holy War, Made by Shaddai upon Diabolus, for the Regaining of the Metropolis of the World. […], London: […] Dorman Newman […]; and Benjamin Alsop […], →OCLC, page 90A scene of uproar and hubbub ensued that defies description.
1836 October, Washington Irving, chapter XIX, in Astoria, or Anecdotes of an Enterprise beyond the Rocky Mountains. […], volume I, Philadelphia, Pa.: [Henry Charles] Carey, [Isaac] Lea, & Blanchard, →OCLC, page 205The place will be in a fine hubbub, I suppose.
1874, [Mary Elizabeth Braddon], “Father and Daughter”, in Taken at the Flood […], volume I, London: John Maxwell and Co. […], →OCLC, page 15Synonyms: hubbuboo, tumult, ado, argy-bargy, bangarang, bobbery, brouhaha, bunfight
present singular third person hubbubs · participle present hubbubbing · participle present hubbubing · participle past hubbubbed · past hubbubbed · participle past hubbubed · past hubbubed
- intransitiverareTo make a confused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously; to cause a racket or tumult.
It becomes a grotto, hubbubbing with more noise than any class on a school visit could make, the air mobbed by breathless chatter about life and the transfer window.
2016, Daniel Gray, Saturday, 3pm: 50 Eternal Delights of Modern Football, London: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN1 more example
Then, what wretched writing?—"Poured upon the plain,"—"scatter o'er the fields,"—"whitens all the skies,"—"brighten all the fields,"—"flame the skies,"—and "laugh the fields," all huddled and hubbubbed together into one chaotic sentence.
1831 December, [John Wilson], “[William] Sotheby’s Homer. Critique IV. Achilles. Part I.”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume XXXI, number CLXXXVIII, Edinburgh: [Ballantyne and Co. for] William Blackwood, […]; London: T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, page 881, column 1
hubbub2
- UShistoricaluncountableSynonym of bowl game (“a Native American game of chance involving the throwing of colored nuts from a bowl, comparable to dice”).
1 more example
They have tvvo ſorts of games, one called Puim, the other Hubbub, not much unlike Cards and Dice, being no other than Lotterie. […] Hubbub is five ſmall Bones in a ſmall ſmooth Tray, the bones bee like a Die, but ſomething flatter, blacke on one ſide and vvhite on the other, vvhich they place on the ground, againſt vvhich violently thumping the platter, the bones mount changing colours vvith the vvindy vvhisking of their hands too and fro; vvhich action in that ſport they much uſe, ſmiting themſelves on the breaſt, and thighs, crying out, Hub, Hub, Hub; they may be heard play at this game a quarter of a mile off. The bones being all blacke or vvhite, make a double game; if three be of a colour and tvvo of another, then they affoard but a ſingle game; […]
1634, William Wood, “Their Games and Sports of Activitie”, in New Englands Prospect. A True, Lively, and Experimentall Description of that Part of America, Commonly Called New England; […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, for Iohn Bellamie, […], →OCLC, 2nd part (Of the Indians, […]), pages 85–86Synonyms: bowl game
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA confused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously; an uproar.
nounNoisy confusion; commotion, uproar; (countable) an instance of this; an ado, a commotion.
nounA sound of people making a battle cry or war cry.
nounSynonym of bowl game (“a Native American game of chance involving the throwing of colored nuts from a bowl, comparable to dice”).
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
hubbub · noun, verb
In early use, the noun is often mentioned as a cry by Irish people, and so is possibly borrowed from Irish; compare Irish ababú, abú (“used as a battle cry”), and Scottish Gaelic ub, ub, ubub (“used to express contempt, etc.”), ubh ubh (“used to express disgust”). The verb is derived from the noun.
Full word history & related roots →hubbub · noun
Used by New England colonists (17th–18th century) to imitate the sounds hub, hub, hub cried by the players: see the 1634 quotation.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic جَلَبَة, صَخَب
- جَلَبَة (jalaba)confused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- صَخَب (ṣaḵab)confused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- ضَوْضَاء (ḍawḍāʔ)confused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- ضَجَّة (ḍajja)confused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- ضَجِيج (ḍajīj)confused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
Basque zalaparta
- zalapartaconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
Bulgarian глъчка, врява
- глъчка (glăčka)confused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- врява (vrjava)confused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
Catalan aldarull, avalot
- aldarullconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- avalotconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- brogitconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- cridòriaconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- gatzaraconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- rebomboriconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
Chinese Mandarin 吵鬧 /吵闹, 塵囂 /尘嚣
- 吵鬧 /吵闹 (chǎonào)confused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- 塵囂 /尘嚣 (chénxiāo)confused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- 喧嘩 (xuānhuá)confused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
Czech hluk, pozdvižení
- hlukconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- pozdviženíconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- povykconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
Finnish hälinä, kohina
- hälinäconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- kohinaconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- mekkalaconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- hälistäto make a confused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- kohistato make a confused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
French brouhaha, tohu-bohu
- brouhahaconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- tohu-bohuconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- boucanto make a confused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
German Durcheinander, Stimmengewirr
- Durcheinanderconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- Stimmengewirrconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- Tohuwabohuconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- Trubelconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- Tumultconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- Wirrwarrconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
Greek φασαρία
- φασαρία (fasaría)confused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
Hindi हुड़दंग
- हुड़दंग (huṛdaṅg)confused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
Hungarian lárma
- lármaconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
Italian brusio
- brusioconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
Japanese 喧々囂々, 騒ぎ
- 喧々囂々 (kenkengōgō)confused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- 騒ぎ (sawagi)confused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- 猥雑 (waizatsu)confused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
Māori hū, rarī
- hūconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- rarīconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- tararauconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- whakatioroconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
Persian هیاهو
- هیاهو (hayâhu)confused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
Polish gwar, harmider
- gwarconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- harmiderconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- tumultconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- wrzawaconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- zamieszanieconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- zgiełkconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
Portuguese comoção
- comoçãoconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
Russian гам, переполо́х
- гам (gam)confused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- переполо́х (perepolóx)confused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
Swedish ståhej
- ståhejconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
Turkish curcuna, karmaşa
- curcunaconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- karmaşaconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- patırtıconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
- velveleconfused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously
Cite this entry
hubbub. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hubbub
“hubbub.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hubbub. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hubbub,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hubbub.
Source: hubbub on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.