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

After the meeting, a Port Washington police officer told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the woman was given a municipal ticket for disorderly conduct. —Claudia Levens, jsonline.com, 2 Dec. 2025

There were 30 arrests and citations for disorderly conduct in August and September, Moore said. —Andy Humbles, Nashville Tennessean, 30 Nov. 2025

Man harasses people with knife in Eastie Deigo Bautista-Perez, 36, of East Boston, is under arrest and facing charges of assault with a dangerous weapon and two counts of disorderly conduct after some alleged threatening behavior. —Flint McColgan, Boston Herald, 30 Nov. 2025

Between April 2023 and February 2024, the report says police logged 329 service calls and 26 arrests, including thefts, disorderly conduct and a death investigation. —Emma Bussey, FOXNews.com, 25 Nov. 2025

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.