disorderly conduct

noun

: a petty offense chiefly against public order and decency that falls short of an indictable misdemeanor

Examples of disorderly conduct in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Erving was investigated for disorderly conduct in 2019. —Ashley Luthern, jsonline.com, 5 Mar. 2026

Police arrest a 27-year-old man Gusmane Coulibaly, 27, was arrested Thursday morning and initially charged with assault on a police officer, a felony, and obstruction of government administration and disorderly conduct, both misdemeanors. —Alexa Herrera, CBS News, 4 Mar. 2026

He was booked into the Merrimack County Jail and charged with two counts of simple assault and one count each of criminal trespass, criminal threatening and disorderly conduct. —Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 3 Mar. 2026

In the summer of 1960, Jackson participated in a sit-in at the whites-only Greenville County Public Library and was subsequently arrested as one of the Greenville Eight for disorderly conduct. —Darcel Rockett, Chicago Tribune, 2 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1786, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for disorderly conduct

• abduct
• construct
• deduct
• destruct
• induct
• instruct
• obstruct
• aqueduct
• deconstruct
• reconstruct
• bucked
• chucked

Legal Definition

disorderly conduct

noun

dis·​or·​der·​ly conduct

: conduct that is likely to lead to a disturbance of the public peace or that offends public decency

also : the petty offense of engaging in disorderly conduct compare breach of the peace

Note: The term disorderly conduct is used in statutes to identify various acts against the public peace. It has been held to include the use of obscene language in public, the blocking of public ways, and the making of threats. A statute must identify acts that constitute disorderly conduct with sufficient clarity in order to avoid being held unconstitutional because of vagueness.