Skip to main content
hurly

hurly

1 9.9
Noisy and disorderly like a busy crowd at a festival
  • adjective
  • /ˈhɜrli/
  • Archaic
translation icon : alboroto
  • "I do think judges should be somewhat on pedestals and above the hurly-burly."
  • the hurly-burly

Examples

  • Where the West and the "state of nature" represented by Indian tribes symbolized escape in the Early Republic, the plantation and the "simple" agrarian life of the past emerged as a model of escape in the hurly-burly of the turn of the twentieth century.

    Academic text (2017)
  • She enjoyed the hurly of the city streets during the day, bustling with activity and chatter.

  • Get away from the hurly-burly for a little while.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • In this hurly-burly of insanity

  • now that you've retired from the hurly-burly of the silver screen

  • An inborn preference for calm had blossomed, absent the hurly-burly of other porcine companions, into a decided disinclination toward any noise or disruption whatsoever.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • Instead of simply placing the conversational hurly-burly of the restaurant crowd within the quotation marks of direct discourse, Ponge allows it to pervade his descriptive prose.

    Academic text (1997)
  • The festival was filled with hurly, as people danced and laughed around the crowded square.

  • After a day of hurly at the amusement park, the children fell asleep as soon as they got home.

Synonyms

rowdy
vshurly
34 3.6

Making a lot of noise and disturbing other people

is more about loud commotion than actively disturbing others
bustling
vshurly
9 4.1

Full of busy, noisy activity and many people

is focused more on disorderly noisy commotion than planned busyness
boisterous
vshurly
1 6.4

Very rough and stormy, with strong wind and big waves

is used for noisy human commotion rather than physical turbulence
roisterous
vshurly
  • Archaic
8.7

Loud and lively in a wild way

is more about disorder and commotion rather than cheerful fun

Antonyms

52 1.0

A quiet, peaceful feeling that helps you stay steady

Compounds

hurly-burly
  • Literature
1 9.6

A noisy, confused situation with many people and activity

How Noisy

chaotic
116 4.7
tumultuous
35 7.5
hurly
  • Archaic
1 9.9
boisterous
18 4.7
noisy
125 1.0

Surface Forms

hurly positive

Etymology

Hurly comes from the old phrase hurly-burly, and uses the idea of hurl 'to throw' to picture people and things being tossed about. So hurly means noisy, disorderly, and full of commotion.