disorderly conduct

noun

: a petty offense chiefly against public order and decency that falls short of an indictable misdemeanor

Examples of disorderly conduct in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

He has been charged with fifth-degree larceny, second-degree breach of peace, disorderly conduct and fifth-degree computer crime, state police said. —Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 6 Apr. 2025

An arrest does not constitute a finding of guilt: A 47-year-old woman from Bolingbrook was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property at 3:02 p.m. March 30 at the police station, 1350 Aurora Ave. —Steve Metsch, Chicago Tribune, 4 Apr. 2025

He was charged with felony endangerment and disorderly conduct and was sentenced to seven days in a DUI education center and two years supervised probation after pleading guilty. —Audrey Gibbs, USA Today, 4 Apr. 2025

Michael Stewart, president of the Satanic Grotto, was released from jail on a $1,000 bond on suspicion of disorderly conduct and having an unlawful assembly in the first-floor rotunda of the Kansas Statehouse in Topeka. —Arkansas Online, 2 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1786, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for disorderly conduct

• abduct
• construct
• deduct
• destruct
• induct
• instruct
• obstruct
• aqueduct
• deconstruct
• reconstruct
• bucked
• chucked

Legal Definition

disorderly conduct

noun

dis·​or·​der·​ly conduct

: conduct that is likely to lead to a disturbance of the public peace or that offends public decency

also : the petty offense of engaging in disorderly conduct compare breach of the peace

Note: The term disorderly conduct is used in statutes to identify various acts against the public peace. It has been held to include the use of obscene language in public, the blocking of public ways, and the making of threats. A statute must identify acts that constitute disorderly conduct with sufficient clarity in order to avoid being held unconstitutional because of vagueness.