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 Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office charged Kevin Scholz, 45, of Franklin, with capturing an intimate representation of someone without consent and with disorderly conduct in late September. —David Clarey, jsonline.com, 3 Oct. 2025

Conservative influencer Nick Sortor was arrested late Thursday in Portland, along with two others, on suspicion of disorderly conduct for what police said was a physical fight. —Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN Money, 3 Oct. 2025

Sortor was charged with disorderly conduct in the second degree. —Greg Norman , Bill Melugin, FOXNews.com, 3 Oct. 2025

Griffith and CityBeat reporter Madeline Fening are facing charges, including disorderly conduct, failure to disperse, obstructing a highway and obstructing an emergency responder. —Quinlan Bentley, Cincinnati Enquirer, 2 Oct. 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.