tumultuous
Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /tjʊˈmʌl.tjʊ.əs/
  • (GA) IPA: /t(j)uˈmʌl.tʃu.əs/, /-ˈməl-/
Adjective

tumultuous

  1. Characterized by loud, confused#Adjective|confused noise#Noun|noise. [from mid 16th c.]
    Synonyms: noisy, uproarious, see also Thesaurus:noisy
    • 1843 December 18, Charles Dickens, “Stave Two. The First of the Three Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, London: Chapman & Hall, […], OCLC 55746801 ↗, page 68 ↗:
      The noise in this room was perfectly tumultuous, for there were more children there, than Scrooge in his agitated state of mind could count; and, unlike the celebrated herd in the poem, they were not forty children conducting themselves like one, but every child was conducting itself like forty.
  2. Causing or characterized by tumult; chaotic, disorderly, turbulent. [from mid 16th c.]
    Synonyms: riotous, tempestuous, tumultuary, see also Thesaurus:disorderly
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book IV ↗”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: Printed [by Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […] [a]nd by Robert Boulter […] [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], OCLC 228722708 ↗; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: The Text Exactly Reproduced from the First Edition of 1667: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554 ↗, lines 13–18:
      Yet not rejoycing in his [Satan#English|Satan's] ſpeed, though bold, / Far off and fearleſs, nor with cauſe to boaſt, / Begins his dire attempt, with nigh the birth / Now rowling, boiles in his tumultuous breſt, / And like a devilliſh Engine back recoiles, / Upon himſelf; {{...}
    • 1822, [Walter Scott], chapter V, in Peveril of the Peak. [...] In Four Volumes, volume IV, Edinburgh: Printed for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., OCLC 2392685 ↗, page 108 ↗:
      The old cavalier stooped his head in token of acquiescence in the command of his Sovereign, but he raised it not again. The tumultuous agitation of the moment had been too much for spirits which had been long in a state of depression, and health which was much decayed.
    • 1913, Booth Tarkington, chapter 5, in The Flirt, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, OCLC 1079137728 ↗, page 71 ↗:
      She leaned very slowly closer and yet closer to the mirror; a rich colour spread over her; her eyes, gazing into themselves, became dreamy, inexpressibly wistful, cloudily sweet; her breath was tumultuous.
Antonyms Translations Translations


This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.002
Offline English dictionary