n., pl. -dies.

A rough, disorderly person.

adj., -di·er, -di·est.

Disorderly; rough: rowdy teenagers; a rowdy beer party.

[Probably from ROW³.]

rowdily row'di·ly adv.
rowdiness row'di·ness n.
rowdyism row'dy·ism n.

noun

A rough, violent person who engages in destructive actions: hoodlum, mug, roughneck, ruffian, tough. Informal toughie. Slang hood, punk. See attack/defend, crimes.

adjective

Upsetting civil order or peace: riotous. Law disorderly. See peace/conflict.

adj

Definition: boisterous
Antonyms: calm, moderate, peaceful, quiet, restrained

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Origin: 1808

Nobody has been more rowdy than Americans. We have Kentucky lawyer and humorist William Littell to thank for the first evidence of it: "It seems to this court that the loss to him would be the same, as if he had lost it among those, whom his gentlemanship is pleased to call rowdies." This was in an 1808 collection called Festoons of Fancy, Consisting of Compositions Amatory, Sentimental, and Humorous, in Verse and Prose. His ironic treatment of the word implies that it is ungentlemanly, and his emphatic treatment of it suggests that it is new.

Soon, however, the nineteenth century was filled with American rowdies--especially in Kentucky. We have a report about "the Rowdies of Kentucky" in 1823, saying that they "frequently decoy travelers, supposed to have money, out of the road, and then shoot them." In that year an English traveler complained, "A line of houses on the lonely road to Missouri is...kept up by these Rowdey robbers and murderers for the reception of travellers, and villains to rob them." In 1844 the Lexington Observer reported that "a gang of drunken rowdies attacked a Methodist Camp Meeting." Elsewhere, in 1842 the Chicago American warned, "Let the police be more energetic...or we shall soon gain a reputation for rowdyism." That became a student problem, according to the University of Chicago Weekly in 1894: "A few of the 'Varsity students in a fit of pique allowed rowdyism to overcome their collegiate training." And in 1885, a century before the civilizing arrival of Walt Disney World, the Orlando, Florida, Sentinel wrote that "Every portion of Orlando...[demands] protection from rowdies by our police."

To this day rowdy behavior is not unknown to college students and others, whether merrymakers or protesters. But rowdy has long lost its murderous edge, and now describes a milder form of disruption.

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IN BRIEF: To behave in an unruly, noisy and rough way.

The rowdy guests were asked to leave the hotel.

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Dansk (Danish)
adj. - voldsom, larmende
n. - slagsbror, spektakelmager

Nederlands (Dutch)
druk, herrieachtig, herriemaker

Français (French)
adj. - tapageur, chahuteur
n. - voyou

Deutsch (German)
adj. - rowdyhaft
n. - Krawallmacher

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - θορυβώδης, φασαριόζικος, σαματατζίδικος, ταραχώδης
n. - ψευτονταής, τραμπούκος

Italiano (Italian)
attaccabrighe, turbolento

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - desordeiro, brigão
n. - desordeiro (m), brigão (m)

Русский (Russian)
хулиган, забияка, грубый, драчливый

Español (Spanish)
adj. - camorrista, pendenciero, ruidoso
n. - camorrista, pendenciero

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - bråkig, våldsam
n. - bråkmakare, råskinn

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
吵闹的, 粗暴的, 粗暴的人, 无赖

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 吵鬧的, 粗暴的
n. - 粗暴的人, 無賴

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 난폭한, 싸움 좋아하는, 떠들썩한
n. - 난폭한 사람

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 乱暴者, 騒々しい人
adj. - 乱暴な, 騒々しい

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) فظ مشاكس, محب للخصام (الاسم) شخص مشاكس محب للخصام‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮קולני, פרחחי, פרחח, גס, מתפרע‬
n. - ‮פרחח, אדם מתפרע‬

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