Dictionary

ruction en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈɹʌk.ʃən/ (UK, US)
• (US) audio

Etymology

1825, of unknown origin, possibly from eruption or insurrection. Possibly related to the Irish insurrection of 1798.

Meanings

1. A noisy quarrel or fight.
   • While the U.S. government had a huge fiscal deficit, similar to Greece's, the financial ructions emanating from Athens sent nervous money flocking to the United States, not away. 2013, Alan S. Blinder, After the Music Stopped: The Financial Crisis, the Response, ..., page 381:
   • Dad drove and Mum commented on Dad's driving; not too much, but just enough to occasionally lead to ructions. 2014, Murray C. Morison, Time Sphere:
   • She could see there were going to be ructions. Sure enough there'd be a scene between them, when Sebastian found what Tilly had been up to. 1947, Christopher Sheridan, Bread and circuses, page 52:
   • Although she acknowledged that the development of an opera house had caused considerable ructions in Australia, she nevertheless implied that its construction was a sort of coming-of-age for the rough antipodeans 2002, Ruth Bereson, The Operatic State: Cultural Policy and the Opera House, page 148:
   • […]the geopolitical ructions caused by Donald Trump's muscle-flexing in the Middle East, Vladimir Putin's military aggression and tense economic relations with China. 2026 June 13, Patrick Jenkins, “Lunch with the FT: Thomas Buberl”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 3:
   • “If you do want to go home, here’s your whip. Don’t fall off. Say to her you wanted it, or there might be ructions.” 1907 April, E[dward] M[organ] Forster, chapter XII, in The Longest Journey, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, part I (Cambridge), page 144:

Forms

Relateds

ruckus

Synonyms

clash · stoush · debate · bawl out · disturbance · difference · tangle · quibble · disharmony · discordance · dustup · altercation · brawl · feud · quarrel · face-off · contention · dissonance · wrangle · blue · issue · flite · palaver · set to · falling out · threap · fracas · kerfuffle · hassle · squabble · controversy · tiff · fight · rixation · disputation · brawl · fracas · argy-bargy · row · conflict · affray · disunion · fight · bobbery · dust-up · ding-dong · dispute · barney · uproar · argument · ruckus · row · set-to · disagreement · spat

Translations (25)

nl herrie (noisy quarrel or fight) · mi tutūnga o te puehu (noisy quarrel or fight) · gd ramaidh (noisy quarrel or fight) · fr rixe (noisy quarrel or fight) · bg караница (noisy quarrel or fight) · fi rähinä (noisy quarrel or fight) · sv gruff (noisy quarrel or fight) · nl vechtpartij (noisy quarrel or fight) · it rissa (noisy quarrel or fight) · nl tumult (noisy quarrel or fight) · nl oproer (noisy quarrel or fight) · es pelea (noisy quarrel or fight) · sv gräl (noisy quarrel or fight) · cs povyk (noisy quarrel or fight) · nl krakeel (noisy quarrel or fight) · es reyerta (noisy quarrel or fight) · sv bråk (noisy quarrel or fight) · ba ыҙғыш (noisy quarrel or fight) · pl zajście (noisy quarrel or fight) · de Aufruhr (noisy quarrel or fight) · mi tutūnga (noisy quarrel or fight) · pl zamieszanie (noisy quarrel or fight) · mi heihei (noisy quarrel or fight) · bg кавга (noisy quarrel or fight) · ba талаш (noisy quarrel or fight)