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

Parks pleaded guilty in 2022 to disorderly conduct in a restricted building or grounds for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol. —Ruben Montoya, Nashville Tennessean, 23 July 2025

McCray, therefore, was charged only with reckless endangerment, menacing and disorderly conduct at the time and was subsequently released. —Danielle Wallace, FOXNews.com, 21 July 2025

After deliberations that went into the early evening, jurors convicted Johnson of attempting to commit first-degree murder, unlawful flight from a pursuing law enforcement vehicle and four counts of disorderly conduct. —Miguel Torres, AZCentral.com, 11 July 2025

For some reason, Feliz handed them a driver’s license that actually belonged to his brother, Sammy, who had three minor warrants — for spitting, littering and disorderly conduct — according to police. —Roni Jacobson, New York Daily News, 11 July 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.