rumpus

/ˈrʌmpəs/

Other forms: rumpuses

A rumpus is an uproar or a commotion. Setting a litter of excited puppies loose in a kindergarten classroom would be sure to cause a rumpus.

While a rumpus can be loud and boisterous, like the rumpus underneath a piñata in the midst of a huge birthday party, others take the form of heated arguments. This kind of rumpus might occur during a political scandal, for example. Experts guess that the informal rumpus might come from the now-obsolete word robustious, which means "boisterous or noisy." In the mid-twentieth century, children's playrooms began to be called "rumpus rooms."

Definitions of rumpus

1. noun

   the act of making a noisy disturbance
   synonyms: commotion, din, ruckus, ruction, tumult

   types:

   ado, bustle, flurry, fuss, hustle, hustle and bustle, stir

   a rapid active commotion

   type of:

   disturbance

   the act of disturbing something or someone; setting something in motion
2. verb

   cause a disturbance
   type of:

   agitate, foment, stir up

   try to stir up (e.g., public opinion)