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

The department said in the statement that Jacobs was booked into Brown County Jail on charges of domestic abuse battery, domestic abuse criminal damage to property, domestic abuse disorderly conduct, strangulation and suffocation, and intimidation of a victim. —Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 30 May 2026

All were arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct along with either endangering another person or obstruction of justice, state police said. —Gloria Pazmino, CNN Money, 30 May 2026

The New Jersey State Police said in a statement that one of those faced a charge of disorderly conduct and endangering another person and the other five were charged with disorderly conduct and obstruction of justice. —Daniella Silva, NBC news, 30 May 2026

Those offenses could include public intoxication, disorderly conduct, fights and noise disturbances. —Ben Wheeler, Kansas City Star, 29 May 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.