raucous

adjective

rau·​cous ˈrȯ-kəs 

1

: disagreeably harsh or strident : hoarse

raucous voices

2

: boisterously disorderly

a … raucous frontier town

—Truman Capote

raucously adverb

raucousness noun

Synonyms

• boisterous
• hell-raising
• knockabout
• rambunctious
• robustious
• roisterous
• rollicking
• rowdy
• rumbustious [chiefly British]

Choose the Right Synonym for raucous

loud, stentorian, earsplitting, raucous, strident mean marked by intensity or volume of sound.

loud applies to any volume above normal and may suggest undue vehemence or obtrusiveness.

loud shouts of protest

stentorian implies great power and range.

an actor with a stentorian voice

earsplitting implies loudness that is physically discomforting.

the earsplitting sound of a siren

raucous implies a loud harsh grating tone, especially of voice, and may suggest rowdiness.

the raucous shouts of drunken revelers

strident implies a rasping discordant but insistent quality, especially of voice.

the strident voices of hecklers

Examples of raucous in a Sentence

He stepped over one man, avoided a raucous group of inebriated merchant seamen staggering for their boats, ran up his steps into the large foyer … —James Clavell, Gai-Jin, 1994

The scene was reminiscent of a college fraternity reunion, with plenty of backslapping, joking, hugging and raucous laughter. —Lewis Beale, Chicago Tribune, 15 Feb. 1987

On the ledge of rock above this strange couple there stood three solemn buzzards, who, at the sight of the new comers uttered raucous screams of disappointment and flapped sullenly away. —Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet, 1887

the partying neighbors kept up their raucous laughter half the night

Recent Examples on the Web

Stanley Tucci: How Julia Child Changed My Life Tampopo (1985) Getty Images Juzo Itami's Tampopo is a raucous Japanese comedy filled with vignettes about different characters eating, cooking, and—in the case of a dapper gangster and his girlfriend—engaging erotically with food. —Eliana Dockterman, TIME, 21 Dec. 2024

After receiving raucous applause from the studio audience — a handful of whom have been attending the Studio City, CA. —Lynette Rice, Deadline, 20 Dec. 2024

Swift glimmered in her pink and blue bodysuit to a raucous roar from 92,000 screaming fans. —Bryan West, The Tennessean, 20 Dec. 2024

Gone are the raucous trading pits, replaced by PhD- and engineer-led teams optimizing algorithms. —Daniel Schlaepfer, Forbes, 19 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Latin raucus hoarse; akin to Latin ravis hoarseness

First Known Use

1769, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

raucous

adjective

rau·​cous ˈrȯ-kəs 

1

: being harsh and unpleasant

a raucous voice

2

: behaving in a rough and noisy way

a raucous crowd

raucously adverb

raucousness noun