unruly
/ʌnˈɹuːli/adjective
unruly is spelled U-N-R-U-L-Y: 6 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 26,092nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, unruly means “Wild; uncontrolled” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in unruly?
| Letters | 6: U-N-R-U-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.2 times per million words; the 26,092nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is unruly?
Unruly appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 26,092nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce unruly?
- /ʌnˈɹuːli/
Unruly has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-unruly.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of unruly
- unrulier comparative
- unruliest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does unruly mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Wild; uncontrolled.
The police gathered to contain the unruly mob.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Unruly in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense wild:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | désobéissant, incontrôlable, indiscipliné |
| German | unbändig, wild, widerspenstig, undiszipliniert, aufsässig |
| Portuguese | descontrolado, desgovernado |
| Spanish | revoltoso, descontrolado, incontrolable, díscolo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does unruly come from?
From Middle English unruly (“unquiet, restless”), equivalent to un- + rule + -ly (compare Middle English ruly, reuli (“subject to a religious rule, regular”)), but also representing a modified continuation of earlier Middle English unrouly, unroly (“unquiet, restless”), equivalent to un- + roolie. The latter is perhaps from or influenced by Old Norse *úróligr, related to Danish urolig (“restless”), Swedish orolig (“restless”), Icelandic órólegur (“agitated”). Compare also Middle English unroo, unro (“unrest”). More at roo.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).