tumultuous
Americanadjective
-
full of tumult or riotousness; marked by disturbance and uproar.
a tumultuous celebration.
- Synonyms:
- violent, turbulent, uproarious
-
raising a great clatter and commotion; disorderly or noisy.
a tumultuous crowd of students.
- Synonyms:
- boisterous
-
highly agitated, as the mind or emotions; distraught; turbulent.
- Synonyms:
- unquiet
adjective
-
uproarious, riotous, or turbulent
a tumultuous welcome
-
greatly agitated, confused, or disturbed
a tumultuous dream
-
making a loud or unruly disturbance
tumultuous insurgents
Other Word Forms
- nontumultuous adjective
- nontumultuously adverb
- nontumultuousness noun
- tumultuously adverb
- tumultuousness noun
- untumultuous adjective
- untumultuously adverb
- untumultuousness noun
Etymology
Origin of tumultuous
First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin tumultuōsus, from tumultu(s) tumult + -ōsus -ous
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In the tumultuous first months after the revolution, a group of militant university students loyal to Khomeini occupied the US embassy.
From BBC
Here is a brief history of the countries’ tumultuous relationship.
Signs that inflation may persist and broader fears about artificial intelligence and tech stocks were also at play for U.S. equities, with some fearing that March will be another tumultuous month for the market.
From MarketWatch
It’s already been a tumultuous 2026 for the stock market, for the U.S. and for the world as a whole.
From Barron's
It doesn’t take much to cause tumultuous stock moves in a market top-heavy with tech shares and jumpy about the prospects for artificial intelligence.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
