uproarious

English

WOTD – 8 April 2022

Etymology

From uproar +‎ -ious (a variant of -ous (“suffix forming adjectives from nouns, to denote possession or presence of a quality in any degree, commonly in abundance”)).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ʌpˈɹɔː.ɹɪ.əs/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌʌpˈɹɔ.ɹi.əs/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔːɹiəs
• Hyphenation: up‧roar‧i‧ous

Adjective

uproarious (comparative more uproarious, superlative most uproarious)

1. Causing, or likely to cause, an uproar.
   • 1874, Marcus Clarke, For the Term of His Natural Life, Penguin, published 2009, page 268:

     “Oh! there's no fear of him,” said Burgess, cheerily; “if he grows uproarious, we'll soon give him a touch of the cat.”

2. Characterized by uproar, that is, loud, confused noise, or by noisy and uncontrollable laughter.

   Synonyms: uproarish; see also Thesaurus:noisy

   • 1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Two. The First of the Three Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, pages 68–69:

     The noise in this room was perfectly tumultuous, […] every child was conducting itself like forty. The consequences were uproarious beyond belief; but no one seemed to care; on the contrary, the mother and daughter laughed heartily, and enjoyed it very much; and the latter, soon beginning to mingle in the sports, got pillaged by the young brigands most ruthlessly.

   • 1853, Solomon Northup, chapter XV, in [David Wilson], editor, Twelve Years a Slave. […], London: Sampson Low, Son & Co.; Auburn, N.Y.: Derby and Miller, →OCLC, page 219:

     One "set" off, another takes its place, he or she remaining longest on the floor receiving the most uproarious commendation, and so the dancing continues until broad daylight. It does not cease with the sound of the fiddle, but in that case they set up a music peculiar to themselves.

   • 1921, L[yman] Frank Baum [actually Ruth Plumly Thompson], “Dorothy and Sir Hokus Come to Fix City”, in The Royal Book of Oz […], Chicago, Ill.: The Reilly & Lee Co., →OCLC, page 165:

     The two bushes looked up in surprise, and when they saw Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion and Sir Hokus, they fell into each other's branches and burst into the most uproarious laughter.

   • 1922 August, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “One Crowded Hour of Glorious Life”, in The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, →OCLC, § 1, page 62:

     At the uproarious cheering which greeted his appearance, [Maximilien] Robespierre advanced into the open, whilst a sudden swift light of triumph darted from his narrow, pale eyes.

3. (by extension) Extremely funny; hilarious.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:funny

   • 2019 August 14, A. A. Dowd, “Good Boys Puts a Tween Spin on the R-rated Teen Comedy, to Mostly Funny Effect”, in The A.V. Club‎^[1], archived from the original on 4 March 2021:

     Yet as with Booksmart, the summer's earlier riff on that Apatovian classic, there are times when Good Boys feels a little too nice to actually be uproarious. In more ways than one, it's the training wheels for a better comedy—a slightly edgier and funnier one.

4. (figuratively) In a mess; dishevelled, untidy.

Derived terms

• uproariously
• uproariousness

Related terms

• uproar
• uproarish
• uproarishly
• uproarishness

Translations

causing, or likely to cause, an uproar

characterised by uproar, that is, loud, confused noise, or by noisy and uncontrollable laughter

• Bulgarian: шумен (bg) (šumen), гръмогласен (bg) (grǎmoglasen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 喧囂的 (xuānxiāode)

• French: tumultueux (fr)
• Greek:

  Ancient: θορυβώδης (thorubṓdēs)

• Maori: hoi (of laughter)

extremely funny — see hilarious

in a mess — see dishevelled,‎ untidy

Further reading

• uproar (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia