rambunctious
adjective
Did you know?
Rambunctious first appeared in print in the early half of the 19th century, at a time when the fast-growing United States was forging its identity and indulging in a fashion for colorful new coinages suggestive of the young nation's optimism and exuberance. Rip-roaring, scalawag, scrumptious, hornswoggle, and skedaddle are other examples of the lively language of that era. Did Americans alter the largely British rumbustious because it sounded, well, British? That could be. Rumbustious, which first appeared in Britain in the late 1700s just after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, was probably based on robustious, a much older adjective meaning both "robust" and "boisterous."
Synonyms of rambunctious
Examples of rambunctious in a Sentence
Dan Piepenbring,
Harpers Magazine,
30 June 2026
Salonen was back this year, a bit less rambunctious than before, secure in his status as one of the major musical figures of our time.
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Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
29 June 2026
Here’s help The Tartan Army took over Miami Scottish fans are enthusiastic, rambunctious, loud and — more than anything — organized.
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Claire Heddles,
Miami Herald,
25 June 2026
Paré-Poupart’s style gives his book a rambunctious spirit, a sense of a hungry, catholic mind at work.
—
Literary Hub,
25 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for rambunctious
Cite this Entry
“Rambunctious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rambunctious. Accessed 1 Jul. 2026.
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rambunctious
adjective
