Roister
noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A roisterer. archaic
"He now suspected that the grave roysters of the mountain had put a trick on him, and having dosed him with liquor, had robbed him of his gun."
- 2 A session of noisy, drunken, or riotous behaviour. archaic
"The servants went out on the roister after getting paid."
- 1 To engage in noisy, drunken, or riotous behaviour. intransitive
"Then Elzevir cried out angrily, 'Silence. Are you mad, or has the liquor mastered you? Are you Revenue-men that you dare shout and roister? or contrabandiers with the lugger in the offing, and your life in your hand. You make noise enough to wake folk in Moonfleet from their beds.'"
- 2 engage in boisterous, drunken merrymaking wordnet
- 3 To walk with a swaying motion. intransitive
Example
More examples"Then Elzevir cried out angrily, 'Silence. Are you mad, or has the liquor mastered you? Are you Revenue-men that you dare shout and roister? or contrabandiers with the lugger in the offing, and your life in your hand. You make noise enough to wake folk in Moonfleet from their beds.'"
Etymology
From Old French rustre, from Latin rusticus. Doublet of rustic.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.