Meanings
comparative more polrumptious · superlative most polrumptious
- archaicdialectalslangUnruly, rowdy, restless.
"Iss, sir. Two knacks 'pon the floor, an' I'd ha' been up in a jiffey. But niver mind, sir, us'll wait up for mun to-night, an' I'll get the loan o' the Dearloves' blunderbust in case they gets polrumptious."
1888, Q. [pseudonym; Arthur Quiller-Couch], chapter XVII, in The Astonishing History of Troy Town, London […]: Cassel & Company, Limited, page 2132 more examples
"Why, that's another matter," replied the beadle; "an' if it be true—and I think thou doest not look so polrumptious as thy play-fellow yonder—thou wouldst be a mettle lass enow, an thou wert snog and snod a bit better. Come thou away then—the Rector is a good man."
1818 July 25, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], Tales of My Landlord, Second Series, […] (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume III, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Company, →OCLC, page 170"Poor lamb," she said suddenly, "yu're well nigh done with them polrumptious trains and things, and yu not long a wife, I'll dare be bound. Look yu here, my dear—ma'am—I am sure I beg your pardon Mrs. Gray—ma'am—as I mentioned before, yu'll not take what I say being too free—yu just set yu down here where yu be, and let Cherry unbutton your boots—it do make a most wonderful easement to take your boots off and let your feet swell into whatever shape they've got a mind to—it do relieve yu wonderful, and no mistake."
1908, Ms. Percy Dearmer [i.e., Mabel Dearmer], chapter four, in The Sisters, New York, N.Y.: The McClure Company, page 82
Origin
Uncertain. Probably related to rumptious (“energetic, rowdy, uproarious”). The initial pol may be derived from some sense of poll.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
polrumptious. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/polrumptious
“polrumptious.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/polrumptious. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “polrumptious,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/polrumptious.
Source: polrumptious on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.