RUMBUSTIOUS Synonyms: 104 Similar and Opposite Words

rumbustious

adjective

ˌrəm-ˈbəs-chəs

Definition of rumbustious

chiefly British

as in boisterous

being rough or noisy in a high-spirited way while American university debates tend to be sedate affairs, their counterparts in Oxford are wholeheartedly rumbustious

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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 rumbustious The movie is both exquisite and rumbustious, stylized and energized. — Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 5 May 2022 Still, there’s a lot of pleasing vitality to this great American story about how clever brewers took an ancient idea and unlocked an unheard-of range of innovations with a combination of capitalist energy and rumbustious creativity. — Kyle Smith, National Review, 18 Apr. 2021 The tech titans, with their somewhat rumbustious Bay Area staffers, look quite vulnerable. — The Economist, 22 June 2020

Recent Examples of Synonyms for rumbustious

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

Adjective

Expect a raucous crowd at Progressive Field, as the Guardians look to make progress towards a return to the World Series for the first time since 2016.

— Ian Miller OutKick, FOXNews.com, 14 Oct. 2026
Ionescu fired with her left hand in Jones’ direction, but the pass ended up in the front rows of a raucous State Farm Arena.

— Fiifi Frimpong, New York Daily News, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of raucous

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

But a few minutes into the first half, the music stopped, the band put its instruments away and those same rowdy fans walked out on their team.

— Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
As previously reported, the release spawned a massive rowdy crowd outside of the brand’s Fifth Avenue store.

— Stephen Garner, Footwear News, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of rowdy

Adjective

Murphy then appeared on stage to a rollicking standing ovation and made his way to his place at the dais toward the back of the room.

— Pete Hammond, Deadline, 19 Apr. 2026
Those self-aware lyrics are paired with breezy melody and a gently rollicking rhythm, making this feel like a freewheeling summertime favorite.

— Jessica Nicholson, Billboard, 24 Mar. 2026

Definition of rollicking

Adjective

Einbinder and the staff writer Rachel Syme sit down for what’s sure to be a lively chat.

— The New Yorker, New Yorker, 16 Oct. 2026
Microsoft and Nvidia held a launch party for the first wave of RTX Spark laptops last week in San Francisco, where a new wave of AI PCs took center stage amid a packed crowd and a lively hands-on area.

— Tom Warren, The Verge, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of lively

Adjective

The focus was how AI can be integrated and optimize the existing business – rather than presentation of noisy (and controversial) slates of AI TV shows and movies.

— Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 15 Oct. 2026
Kerry McCoy’s guitar juices up a mid-song gallop by abruptly pivoting from big and noisy to compressed and snarling; at the climax, everything cuts out for a second to spotlight a Daniel Tracy drum fill.

— Patrick Lyons, Pitchfork, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of noisy

Adjective

The style is almost knockabout, with a color palette reminiscent of Coralie Fargeat, but quickly evolves into its own thing with the arrival of Taquin as Margot, a medical student at a nearby hospital.

— Damon Wise, Deadline, 15 May 2026
Though thematically vague, thinly plotted and without a reliably sympathetic soul to cling to, the movie has a mutinous energy and an absurd, knockabout charm; even its violence is more quirky than brutal.

— JEANNETTE CATSOULIS, New York Times, 19 Jan. 2017

Definition of knockabout

Browse Nearby Words

rumblings

rumbustious

rumbustiousness

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“Rumbustious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rumbustious. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of rumbustious

adjective

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