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 prostitution charge was amended to misdemeanor disorderly conduct, and York pleaded no contest to both disorderly conduct and possession of criminal tools. — Andy Scholes, CNN Money, 9 Sep. 2026

Charges of terroristic threats, harassment and disorderly conduct were filed against Knott in Dauphin County. — Madeline Bartos, CBS News, 9 Sep. 2026

Patrick Havas, 38, on Tuesday appeared via video in a Mahoning County court hearing to face two charges of assault, one charge of disorderly conduct and one charge of inducing panic. — Henry J. Gomez, NBC news, 8 Sep. 2026

Strong has been charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, disorderly conduct, communicating threats and injury to personal property, police said. — Mark Price, Charlotte Observer, 8 Sep. 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.