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

Police said 17 people were arrested and charged, while nine others were issued criminal court summonses for disorderly conduct and released. —Josh Margolin, ABC News, 7 June 2026

Seventeen of them were arrested and charged, and nine were released with court summonses for disorderly conduct. —Andrew Ramos, CBS News, 6 June 2026

Wilton Pena, 36, was charged with assault, menacing, disorderly conduct and harassment for the attack. —Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 5 June 2026

By the end of the event, law enforcement responded to 127 calls for service and made 51 arrests on charges that include riot, second-degree assault, driving under the influence, unlawful possession of alcohol, minor transporting alcohol, and disorderly conduct. —Rick Sobey, Boston Herald, 3 June 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.