ruction
noun
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English offers up a scramble of colorful words for what can happen when tempers spill over. For example, we have melee, fracas, donnybrook, ruckus, and one especially for baseball fans, rhubarb. Ruction is rarer than most of these. Etymologists speculate that ruction came to English in the early 19th century as a shortening and alteration of another word suggesting an episode of violence: insurrection. The earliest uses of ruction specifically make reference to the Irish Rebellion of 1798, an uprising against British rule on that island. Ruckus came later, toward the end of the 19th century, and was probably formed by combining ruction with rumpus.
Synonyms
- affray [chiefly British]
- brawl
- broil
- donnybrook
- fracas
- fray
- free-for-all
- melee
- mêlée
- rough-and-tumble
- row
- ruckus
Example Sentences
The Editorial Board, WSJ, 23 Mar. 2021 Once again, waspish commentators noted, an American woman has caused a ruction in the royal family. Washington Post, 9 Jan. 2020 Deteriorating finances come at a bad time, however, with ructions in China’s money markets threatening to damp demand for corporate bonds. Nathaniel Taplin, WSJ, 21 June 2019 The volcano’s ructions escalated on Sunday, prompting the provincial government in Batangas to declare a state of calamity. Washington Post, 13 Jan. 2020 Once again, waspish commentators noted, an American woman has caused a ruction in the British royal family. Danica Kirka, Anchorage Daily News, 9 Jan. 2020 But Gerwig resists that temptation by keeping her eye firmly on the economics to which Alcott herself was all too keenly aware, and allowing her characters to experience joy even within their severest ructions and reversals. Ann Hornaday, Houston Chronicle, 20 Dec. 2019 At some point, ructions in financial markets would force a change—a weak pound makes imports more expensive, trimming living standards. The Economist, 30 Oct. 2019 America's political ructions keep bursting from its borders. Stephen Collinson, CNN, 11 Oct. 2019 See More Word History
perhaps by shortening & alteration from insurrection
circa 1825, in the meaning defined at sense 2
ructions
noun
Synonyms & Similar Words
- brawls
- clashes
- altercations
- fracas
- broils
- fracases
- affrays
- melees
- skirmishes
- ruckuses
- rows
- tussles
- frays
- scuffles
- donnybrooks
- mêlées
- quarrels
- fisticuffs
- squabbles
- arguments
- rough-and-tumbles
- battles
- conflicts
- disputes
- wrangles
- free-for-alls
- tiffs
- scrimmages
- spats
- struggles
- contests
- combats
- hassles
- scraps
- horseplays
- handgrips
- kickups
Synonyms & Similar Words
- commotions
- disturbances
- turmoils
- stirs
- fusses
- noises
- storms
- hurricanes
- rackets
- rows
- clatters
- ruckuses
- uproars
- upheavals
- kerfuffles
- tumults
- fun
- coils
- furores
- bluster
- squalls
- ados
- furors
- clutters
- ballyhoos
- bustles
- zoos
- hubbubs
- blathers
- bothers
- pandemoniums
- moils
- welters
- roars
- rumpuses
- hullabaloos
- corroborees
- hoo-hahs
- alarums and excursions
- stews
- hooplas
- bobberies
- whirls
- disorders
- flurries
- outcries
- shindies
- williwaws
- hubble-bubbles
- pothers
- eruptions
- cacophonies
- howls
- shindys
- dins
- hurry-skurries
- helter-skelters
- outbreaks
- splores
- hurry-scurries
- dos
- hoo-has
- brawls
- outbursts
- hurly-burlies
- scuffles
- to-dos
- fracas
- hurlies
- foofaraws
- clamors
- do's
- fracases
- flutters
- fevers
- frays
- melees
- tizzies
- frets
- flare-ups
- hassles
- dithers
- hue and cries
- mêlées
- lathers
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- tranquillities
- hushes
- tranquilities
- rests
- calms
- peaces
- quiets
- quietudes
- orders