rumbustious

adjective rum·bus·tious \ ˌrəm-ˈbəs-chəs \

Updated on: 28 Feb 2018

Definition of rumbustious

chiefly British

: rambunctious

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rumbustiously

adverb, chiefly British

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rumbustiousness

noun, chiefly British

See rumbustious defined for English-language learners

Examples of rumbustious in a Sentence

while American university debates tend to be sedate affairs, their counterparts in Oxford are wholeheartedly rumbustious

Recent Examples of rumbustious from the Web

On a sunny afternoon at the Alessandro Volta junior-middle school in Latina, 50km south of Rome, Massimo Alvisi, who teaches digital literacy, runs through some of the topics the rumbustious children in front of him have covered this year.

— The Economist, "Russian disinformation distorts American and European democracy," 24 Feb. 2018
Formerly a thuggish one-party dictatorship under martial law, over three decades Taiwan has transformed itself into a vibrant democracy that is notable for being decent, prosperous and civil, albeit with wildly rumbustious politics.

— The Economist, "Events in Catalonia and Kurdistan are causing pangs in Taiwan," 5 Oct. 2017
Across much of the economy, Communist officials preside over rumbustious capitalism.

— The Economist, "New era, old contradictionFears that Xi Jinping is bad for private enterprise are overblown," 25 Oct. 2017
This red-bricked pub was busy, but were none of the usually rumbustious chants and songs that usher in the start of big games here.

— alexander smith, NBC News, "Manchester United Win Brings City Together After Concert Bombing," 25 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'rumbustious.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.