Boisterous

//ˈbɔɪstəɹəs// adj

adj ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Full of energy; exuberant; noisy.

    "Open carriages tend to be draughty and inadequately heated. The passenger in them has no escape from the annoyance of squalling babies, boisterous drunks, and riotous teddy-boys, who may be at the far end of the coach but whose din cannot be shut out."

  2. 2
    Characterized by violence and agitation; wild; stormy.

    "ſtaggering like a quiuering Aſpen leafe, Fearing the force of Boreas boiſtrous blaſts."

  3. 3
    Having or resembling animal exuberance.
Adjective
  1. 1
    violently agitated and turbulent wordnet
  2. 2
    noisy and lacking in restraint or discipline wordnet
  3. 3
    full of rough and exuberant animal spirits wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
rambunctiousstormyhighblaringblatantblatting

Example

More examples

"She refused to put up with her boisterous nephews anymore."

Etymology

From Middle English boistres, an alteration of Middle English boistous (“crude, unrefined”), of uncertain origin. Likely from Anglo-Norman boystous, bustous (“rough, in a crude state, disabled, paralysed, unable to walk, lame”), Old French boitous (“limping; having a rough, uneven surface”).

More for "boisterous"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.