: a state of commotion, excitement, or violent disturbance
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
- hurly-burly
- 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
- welter
- whirl
- williwaw
- zoo
Examples of uproar in a Sentence
There was a lot of public uproar over the proposed jail.
There have been uproars in the past over similar proposals.
The proposal caused an uproar.
The town was in an uproar over the proposal to build a jail.
Recent Examples on the Web
Thin margins make vote attendance even more critical for congressional leaders — as seen last week when Republicans were in uproar over their colleagues missing judicial votes.
—
Axios, 27 Nov. 2024
The decision drew uproar from the community, leading to the appointment of special prosecutor Dan Webb — who once famously deposed President Ronald Reagan over the Iran-Contra affair.
—Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 21 Nov. 2024
Johnson died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after a caesarean section eight years ago, spurring a public uproar and lawsuits by her husband against Cedars-Sinai and several physicians, which were ultimately settled.
—Emily Alpert Reyes, Los Angeles Times, 20 Nov. 2024
The uproar over her appearance and whether Trump would get free time on some NBC broadcast was the talk of Sunday.
—Ryan Gaydos, Fox News, 4 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for uproar 
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Axios, 27 Nov. 2024
The decision drew uproar from the community, leading to the appointment of special prosecutor Dan Webb — who once famously deposed President Ronald Reagan over the Iran-Contra affair.
—Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 21 Nov. 2024
Johnson died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after a caesarean section eight years ago, spurring a public uproar and lawsuits by her husband against Cedars-Sinai and several physicians, which were ultimately settled.
—Emily Alpert Reyes, Los Angeles Times, 20 Nov. 2024
The uproar over her appearance and whether Trump would get free time on some NBC broadcast was the talk of Sunday.
—Ryan Gaydos, Fox News, 4 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for uproar
Articles Related to uproar
Dictionary Entries Near uproar
Cite this Entry
“Uproar.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/uproar. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
uproar
noun
up·roar
ˈəp-ˌrō(ə)r 
-ˌrȯ(ə)r
: a state of commotion, excitement, or violent disturbance
Etymology
from Dutch oproer "revolt, uprising," from op "up" and roer "motion"; the English spelling and meaning influenced by the similarity of the English roar to Dutch roer
Word Origin
The -roar part of the word uproar has no connection with the sounds made by some animals and crowds. The first use of uproar was as the translation of the Dutch word oproer, meaning "uprising, rebellion, revolt." Thus, the first meaning of uproar was the same as the Dutch meaning of oproer. Nowadays, this sense of uproar is no longer used. Because people thought that the roar of uproar referred to loud cries and sounds, they began to use the word to mean "a noisy disturbance or commotion." This is the sense of uproar that has survived.
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