ROWDY Synonyms: 154 Similar and Opposite Words

rowdy 1 of 2

adjective

ˈrau̇-dē

Definition of rowdy

as in boisterous

being rough or noisy in a high-spirited way a rowdy but good-natured group of teenagers

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

rowdy

2 of 2

noun

as in thug

a violent, brutal person who is often a member of an organized gang rowdies had overtaken the neighborhood and were threatening people on the street

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of rowdy

Adjective

Usually the bar is a rowdy reprieve filled with sweaty bodies and pounding bass lines, with Lo situated behind the DJ decks. — Cerys Davies, Los Angeles Times, 21 Sep. 2026 The first Monday Night Football matchup of the 2026 season was a total disaster class for the Denver Broncos, who got flattened 31-10 by the Kansas City Chiefs at a rowdy Arrowhead Stadium. — Alejandro Avila Outkick, FOXNews.com, 15 Sep. 2026 The normally festive and rowdy crowd inside the basketball arena in Dallas quickly hushed as a five-minute memorial video began playing. — ABC News, 10 Sep. 2026 As Musashi scrambles through a school of Samurai, the game seamlessly bounces between skillful swordplay, rowdy improvisation, and Looney Tunes-style levity. — Zackery Cuevas, PC Magazine, 31 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for rowdy

Recent Examples of Synonyms for rowdy

Adjective

Packed in near the front of the crowded town hall was Cindy Lou Coolich, a boisterous retiree wearing a campaign T-shirt and cowboy hat.

— Kate Wells, Miami Herald, 7 Oct. 2026
Elsewhere, Rose, alongside scientist Robert Cunningham (Noah Robbins) and the conference stenographer (Nina Arianda), crashes a boisterous wedding taking place at the hotel.

— Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of boisterous

Noun

The residents occasionally gather in a disused rec center but the meetings devolve into rants about immigrants, junkies, thugs and vigilantism.

— Jessica Kiang, Variety, 26 Sep. 2026
That a Christian man was responsible for the devastation in Oklahoma City certainly didn’t matter to the thugs who terrorized a Muslim woman there, nearly seven months pregnant, by attacking her home, breaking her windows, screaming religious slurs.

— Reshma Memon Yaqub, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of thug

Adjective

Following the film screening, which earned a raucous applause from attendees (and a standing ovation for its lead actor), Scott encouraged the audience to dance their way out to a song by the late Ethel Merman.

— Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 7 Oct. 2026
The raucous sell-out crowds transform Chase Center into Ballhalla, which is littered with a sea of violet and creates a strong homecourt advantage for the club.

— Kurt Badenhausen, Sportico.com, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of raucous

Noun

Still, a criminal may combine those details with passwords, PINs or other information stolen elsewhere.

— Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 10 Oct. 2026
Pillay, 85, received the news while attending a forum in Nuremberg, Germany, where the trials of Nazi war criminals helped lay the foundations of international law.

— Stefanie Dazio, Los Angeles Times, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of criminal

Adjective

Sunny, a rambunctious Portuguese water dog that President Barack Obama got at the start of his second term in the White House, died Tuesday at the age of 13, Obama announced.

— Amy B Wang, Washington Post, 16 Sep. 2026
When her beloved dog Krypto is poisoned, Kara teams with a vengeful teen (Eve Ridley) and a rambunctious bounty hunter (Jason Momoa) to hunt down the vicious outlaw responsible.

— Brian Truitt, USA Today, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of rambunctious

Adjective

Lucy refurbishes their noisy slab arrangements into massive walls of buzzing texture, like a cross between a fashionable rave and a final boss battle.

— H.D. Angel, Pitchfork, 8 Oct. 2026
In a place where others might have heard a gunshot, or the noisy retreat of a car on three good tires.

— Thomas Lake, AJC.com, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of noisy

Noun

But when a patient recognizes him from his dangerous past, Brown has eight hours to elude the government, mob hitmen, quack surgeons, and a trail of dead gangsters to somehow beat the reaper.

— Denise Petski, Deadline, 6 Oct. 2026
Somebody like Gilroy or Jeff Kober and Barry Corbin (popping up occasionally as a pair of geriatric gangsters) will come and go in situations knowingly designed to feel contrived.

— Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 23 Sep. 2026

Definition of gangster

Browse Nearby Words

rowdiness

rowdy

rowdyish

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Rowdy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rowdy. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of rowdy

adjective

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

deportment

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Popular in Wordplay

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Why do we call it a 'flea market'?

Popular

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes