raucous

[ raw-kuhs ]

adjective

1. harsh; strident; grating:

   raucous voices; raucous laughter.

   Synonyms: raspy, rough

   Antonyms: dulcet, mellow, soft

2. rowdy; disorderly:

   a raucous party.

raucous

/ ˈrɔːsɪtɪ; ˈrɔːkəs /

adjective

1. (of voices, cries, etc) harshly or hoarsely loud

Derived Forms

• ˈraucousness, noun
• ˈraucously, adverb

Other Words From

• raucous·ly adverb
• raucous·ness rau·ci·ty [raw, -si-tee], noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of raucous¹

1760–70; < Latin raucus hoarse, harsh, rough; -ous

Word History and Origins

Origin of raucous¹

C18: from Latin raucus hoarse

Example Sentences

Gaetz said earlier this month to a similarly raucous ovation.

From Washington Post

A Southern Airlines commercial featured toga-wearing flight attendants having a raucous party with first-class passengers.

From Washington Post

Now Xander and his girlfriend of two years, Madison Osborne, walked slowly inside to find a party gone raucous, turned wild with joy.

From Washington Post

I don’t remember many details, only that my colleagues, who are always raucous and rude, were particularly outspoken that day.

From Freakonomics

A new coffee shop in the nearby town of Washington started hosting raucous hardcore punk shows — and a painting of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain on its wall held court over the proceedings.

From Washington Post

An hour-and-a-half of pure, raucous, profanity-fueled laughter: what a perfect edition of Fashion Police aired on E!

From The Daily Beast

Actually, the scene was so darned enthusiastic that it began to look a little like a raucous Walmart employee rally.

From The Daily Beast

Then 45 years old, Robert Foligny Broussard was a raucous and charismatic Democrat from New Iberia, Louisiana.

From The Daily Beast

At first it was raucous, trembling with patriotism, a sea of seething yellow.

From The Daily Beast

So raucous did the celebration get that City Tavern took the unusual step of sending along a bill for “breakage.”

From The Daily Beast

The court crier cleared his throat and shouted in a raucous voice, Raymond Burton!

From Project Gutenberg

Even the gulls, wheeling and darting along the shore, had a new note in their raucous crying.

From Project Gutenberg

The woman called to him in high-pitched and raucous prohibition, but Newt Spooner went heedlessly on his way.

From Project Gutenberg

From the adjoining room came the sound of Cavendish's breathing, but now it was more raucous, more like groan following groan.

From Project Gutenberg

Is the raucous "Well hit, Johnny," of the crowd a fitting, a reverent salutation?

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• boisterous
• disorderly
• rambunctious
• rowdy
• turbulent
• unruly