hurly-burly

noun

hur·​ly-bur·​ly ˌhər-lē-ˈbər-lē 

: uproar, tumult

hurly-burly adjective

Synonyms

• ado
• alarums and excursions
• ballyhoo
• blather
• bluster
• bobbery
• bother
• bustle
• clatter
• clutter [chiefly dialect]
• coil
• commotion
• corroboree [Australian]
• disturbance
• do [chiefly dialect]
• foofaraw
• fun
• furor
• furore
• fuss
• helter-skelter
• hoo-ha
• hoo-hah
• hoopla
• hubble-bubble
• hubbub
• hullabaloo
• hurly
• hurricane
• hurry
• hurry-scurry
• hurry-skurry
• kerfuffle [chiefly British]
• moil
• pandemonium
• pother
• row
• ruckus
• ruction
• rumpus
• shindy
• splore [Scottish]
• squall
• stew
• stir
• storm
• to-do
• tumult
• turmoil
• uproar
• welter
• whirl
• williwaw
• zoo

Examples of hurly-burly in a Sentence

lost sight of his children in all the hurly-burly of the fair

Recent Examples on the Web

Trump Has Promised to Do in a Second Term Compounding all of this household hurly-burly is the fact that Suada has stage 4 pancreatic cancer. —David Fear, Rolling Stone, 3 Apr. 2024

The image’s low contrast and lack of sharpness suggest that it was snapped from the hurly-burly of the piazza. —Paul Elie, The New Yorker, 14 Nov. 2023

By then, his approach to artists had softened, perhaps from age, or from the experience of being in the creative hurly-burly himself. —Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 1 Nov. 2023

He is considered a must-follow in the hurly-burly community known as Crypto Twitter for his informed takes on legal and regulatory news. —Jeff John Roberts, Fortune Crypto, 3 Oct. 2023

For generations, ever since it was first published in 1936, Consumer Reports has been a go-to source for shoppers seeking an impartial guide to the hurly-burly of the marketplace. —Emily Langer, Washington Post, 10 Aug. 2023

Word History

Etymology

probably alteration & reduplication of hurling, gerund of hurl

First Known Use

1539, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

hurly-burly

noun

hur·​ly-bur·​ly

ˌhər-lē-ˈbər-lē

plural hurly-burlies

: tumult