Word of the Day: Rumbustious
[rəm-bəs-chəs]
Part of speech: adjective
Origin: British English, late 18th century
Definition: Boisterous or unruly
Examples of Rumbustious in a sentence
“The kids were being too rumbustious, so I shooed them outside to play.”
“Expect the litter of puppies to be rumbustious when they hit 6 weeks.”
About Rumbustious
A picture might be worth a thousand words, but in the case of “rumbustious,” the word produces a vivid mental image. Think of a pile of squirming kittens, or recess on the playground. That carefree playfulness is downright rumbustious.
Did you Know?
In the course of printing newspapers and books, spelling mistakes have occurred, and sometimes even new words have been created. Rumbustious is one such word. At some point in the late 18th century, someone was trying to use the archaic word “robustious,” meaning boisterous and robust, and they actually used “rumbustious.” The error stuck, and now the unruly word is in the dictionary.
