rumpus

noun

rum·​pus ˈrəm-pəs How to pronounce rumpus (audio)
: a usually noisy commotion

Examples of rumpus in a Sentence

the kids made such a rumpus that they woke up everyone else in the house
Recent Examples on the Web But in the world of venture capital, where investors pride themselves on being mature counselors to brilliant-but-impulsive founders, the public dispute that broke out between Andreessen and Khosla over the past few days qualifies as a remarkable rumpus. Allie Garfinkle, Fortune, 5 Mar. 2024 The sunset is a red-gold rumpus on the western sky. Anne Carson, The New Yorker, 22 Jan. 2024 A little boy named Max who got up on the wrong side of the bed meets a troupe of teeth-gnashing monsters — and so the wild rumpus begins. Karen Cicero, Good Housekeeping, 10 July 2023 Everything's wild rumpus springs from the everyday struggles of an L.A. laundromat owner (Michelle Yeoh) and her semi-estranged husband and daughter (Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu, respectively), then starts shooting out sparks from there like a Catherine wheel. Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, 28 June 2022 But the wild rumpus came to an end around the time Trump helped orchestrate an attack on the U.S. Capitol. Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 31 Jan. 2023 Let the wild rumpus start with this no-sew costume of Max, the main character from the beloved children's book, Where the Wild Things Are. Amy Mitchell, Country Living, 30 Aug. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rumpus.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

origin unknown

First Known Use

1745, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of rumpus was in 1745

Dictionary Entries Near rumpus

Cite this Entry

“Rumpus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rumpus. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

rumpus

noun
rum·​pus ˈrəm-pəs How to pronounce rumpus (audio)
: a noisy commotion

More from Merriam-Webster on rumpus

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