rambunctious

/ræmˈbʌŋkʃəs/
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Loud, lively energy that spills into unruly or hard-to-control behaviour.

Examples

  • The rambunctious kids were bouncing off the walls after lunch.
  • She tried to calm the rambunctious puppies before the training session.
  • The rambunctious party kept the whole building awake.
  • Even experienced teachers struggled with the rambunctious class.
  • A rambunctious crowd spilled out of the stadium after the win.

Similar words

boisterous
high-spirited
lively
wild
raucous
unruly
rowdy

Meanings

Usage

Choose rambunctious for lively scenes that are noisy, disorderly, or difficult to settle, not for anything merely interesting or energetic.

Common mistakes

Quiet, formal, or merely interesting situations are not rambunctious unless they are also noisy and hard to control.

Etymology

An American English word first recorded in the early 1800s, probably altered from rumbustious, an older word for boisterous or unruly behaviour.

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