English Explanatory Dictionary

hubbub

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A confused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously; an uproar.
  2. Noisy confusion; commotion, uproar; (countable) an instance of this; an ado, a commotion.
  3. A sound of people making a battle cry or war cry.
verb
  1. To make a confused sound of a crowd of people shouting or speaking simultaneously; to cause a racket or tumult.
noun
  1. Synonym of bowl game (“a Native American game of chance involving the throwing of colored nuts from a bowl, comparable to dice”).

Pronunciation

/ˈhʌbʌb/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-hubbub.wav LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-hubbub.wav

Word forms

hubbub hubbubs hub-bub whobub hubbubbing hubbubing hubbubbed hubbubed

Etymology

In early use, the noun is often mentioned as a cry by Irish people, and so is possibly borrowed from Irish; compare Irish ababú, abú (“used as a battle cry”), and Scottish Gaelic ub, ub, ubub (“used to express contempt, etc.”), ubh ubh (“used to express disgust”). The verb is derived from the noun.

Synonyms

hubbuboo hue and cry racket tumult ado argy-bargy bangarang bobbery brouhaha bunfight bustle bust-up chaos ferment clamour clatter commotion disruption disturbance flap foofaraw fracas furor fuss hobbleshaw hoo-ha hoo-hah hubbub hullabaloo hurly-burly kerfuffle mayhem merry hell outcry palaver pandemonium pother quarrel riot rowdydow ruckus rumpus shemozzle shindy splatterdash stir stooshie three-ring circus to-do tomfoolery trouble turmoil unrest uproar upstir bowl game

Related words

hubbaboo hubbuboo
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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