Meanings
comparative more rambunctious · superlative most rambunctious · alternative rambunxious · alternative rumbunctious
- USinformalBoisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control.
The kids are being especially rambunctious today.
5 more examples
"Bad cess may attend you, where are you scampering to, you rambunctious"—but she could go no farther; the tears burst from her, and she gave way, without farther resistance, to an explosion of grief.
1852 November, O’Hara Family, “Clough Fionn; or, The Stone of Destiny”, in The Dublin University Magazine, a Literary and Political Journal, volume XL, number CCXXXIX, Dublin: James McGlashan, […]; London: W[illia]m S[omerville] Orr and Company, →OCLC, chapter XI, page 557, column 1"Not as you knows on, you rambunctious wool grower," said the indignant Yankee.
1856 October, “About These Books”, in J. Clement, editor, The Western Literary Messenger […], volume XXVII, number II, Buffalo, N.Y.: Thomas & Lathrops, […], →OCLC, page 64, column 1There was close by me a window, and, noiselessly as possible, I slid back a small piece, thereby rousing the light-sleeping mistress of the canary, who sharply requested it be closed again; [...] the other lady smiled despairingly, and signed me to obey, which I reluctantly did by closing the glass; but the shutter proved rumbunctious, and for no effort of mine would again move out of his groove; [...]
1862 January, “A Canal-boat Sketch”, in Duffy’s Hibernian Magazine. […], volume I (New Series), number 1, Dublin; London: James Duffy, […], →OCLC, page 92"I guess the governor'd be rambunxious, as usual, if I was to ask his permission," the dutiful son remarked; "but he's going away for a few days next week, and mother won't hinder me, I know."
1873 March, W[illia]m S. Walsh, “How We Watched the Grapes”, in J[ohn] T[ownsend] Trowbridge, Lucy Larcom, editors, Our Young Folks. An Illustrated Magazine for Boys and Girls, volume IX, number III, Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, […], →OCLC, page 181It may sometimes appear that Canada is composed of nine complacent, cohesive English-speaking provinces and rambunctious Quebec. In fact, it is composed of ten provinces, each different and all occasionally rambunctious.
1979, “The Art of Government is the Art of Adjustment”, in Canada Today = Canada d’aujourd’hui, volume 10, number 4, Washington, D.C.: Canadian Embassy, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2Synonyms: hyphy, robustious, rumbustious, rumbustical, shandy, unruly, wild
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveBoisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivenoisy and lacking in restraint or discipline
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
A variant of rumbustious (“boisterous and unruly”).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian буен, необуздан
- буен (buen)boisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
- необуздан (neobuzdan)boisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
Chinese Mandarin 粗暴
- 粗暴 (cūbào)boisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
Dutch onstuimig, wild
- onstuimigboisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
- wildboisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
Finnish raisu, riehakas
- raisuboisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
- riehakasboisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
- vallatonboisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
French turbulent
- turbulentboisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
German wild, vom Affen gebissen (fam.)
- wildboisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
- vom Affen gebissen (fam.)boisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
Japanese 始末に負えない, 手に負えない
- 始末に負えない (shimatsu ni oenai)boisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
- 手に負えない (te ni oenai)boisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
Korean 난폭한
- 난폭한 (nanpokhan)boisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
Latin strepitosus
- strepitosusboisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
Polish hałaśliwy, wrzaskliwy
- hałaśliwyboisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
- wrzaskliwyboisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
- żywiołowyboisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
- niesfornyboisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
Romanian exuberant, neastâmpărat
- exuberantboisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
- neastâmpăratboisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
- zbanghiuboisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
Russian бу́йный, бу́рный
- бу́йный (bújnyj)boisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
- бу́рный (búrnyj)boisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
- непокла́дистый (nepokládistyj)boisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
- непоко́рный (nepokórnyj)boisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
- непослу́шный (neposlúšnyj)boisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
Spanish chillón, estrepitoso
- chillónboisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
- estrepitosoboisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
Swedish bångstyrig, oregerlig
- bångstyrigboisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
- oregerligboisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
- ostyrigboisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
- ysterboisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
Turkish delişmen, zıpır
- delişmenboisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
- zıpırboisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
- zırtapozboisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
- zirzopboisterous, energetic, noisy, and difficult to control
Cite this entry
rambunctious. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rambunctious
“rambunctious.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rambunctious. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rambunctious,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rambunctious.
Source: rambunctious on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.