Raucous | Definition of raucous by Merriam-Webster

Full Definition of RAUCOUS

1

: disagreeably harsh or strident : hoarse <raucous voices>

2

: boisterously disorderly <a …raucous frontier town — Truman Capote>

— rau·cous·ly adverb

— rau·cous·ness noun

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Examples of RAUCOUS

He stepped over one man, avoided a raucous group of inebriated merchant seamen staggering for their boats, ran up his steps into the large foyer … —James Clavell, Gai-Jin, 1994
The scene was reminiscent of a college fraternity reunion, with plenty of backslapping, joking, hugging and raucous laughter. —Lewis Beale, Chicago Tribune, 15 Feb. 1987
On the ledge of rock above this strange couple there stood three solemn buzzards, who, at the sight of the new comers uttered raucous screams of disappointment and flapped sullenly away. —Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet, 1887
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Origin of RAUCOUS

Latin raucus hoarse; akin to Latin ravis hoarseness

First Known Use: 1769

Related to RAUCOUS

Synonyms: hell-raising, knockabout, rambunctious, boisterous, robustious, roisterous, rollicking, rowdy, rumbustious [chiefly British]

Antonyms: orderly

Synonym Discussion of RAUCOUS

loud, stentorian, earsplitting, raucous, strident mean marked by intensity or volume of sound. loud applies to any volume above normal and may suggest undue vehemence or obtrusiveness <loud shouts of protest>. stentorian implies great power and range <an actor with a stentorian voice>. earsplitting implies loudness that is physically discomforting <the earsplitting sound of a siren>. raucous implies a loud harsh grating tone, especially of voice, and may suggest rowdiness <the raucous shouts of drunken revelers>. strident implies a rasping discordant but insistent quality, especially of voice <the strident voices of hecklers>.