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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

riotous en · ADJ

Pronunciation

  • /ˈɹaɪətəs/
  • (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English riotous, from Anglo-Norman riotous; equivalent to riot + -ous.

Meanings

  1. Having the characteristics of a riot.
  2. Causing, inciting or taking part in a riot.
    • The prison administrators are always planting seeds of hate, division, separatism, and prison peer group racism in the various ethnic groups here, causing friction and riotous situations where one group is set against another. 1982 April 10, Roosevelt Williamson, “Prison Racism and Legal Slavery in America”, in Gay Community News, page 15:
  3. Unrestrained and boisterous; degenerate or dissolute.
    • Open carriages tend to be draughty and inadequately heated. The passenger in them has no escape from the annoyance of squalling babies, boisterous drunks, and riotous teddy-boys, who may be at the far end of the coach but whose din cannot be shut out. 1959 February 14, “Letters to the Editor: Open-Type Coaches on B.R.”, in Railway Magazine, page 135:

Deriveds

riotously · unriotous · riotousness · riotous living

Synonyms

ragmatical

Translations (3)

pl wzburzony (having the characteristics of a riot) · pl rozjuszony (having the characteristics of a riot) · pl buntowniczy (having the characteristics of a riot)