: 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
The request, which was made directly to the bride before the groom was even consulted, led to an uproar on Reddit, where users overwhelmingly advised against allowing it.
—
Justin Gest, Newsweek, 11 Feb. 2025
Still, Democrats attempted to tie Trump to the Project 2025 agenda, and Vought’s pick to lead the budget office caused some uproar on the Left.
—Zach Halaschak, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 7 Feb. 2025
The recent uproar over TikTok, which has been banned by the U.S. government but is a candidate for a potential rescue by the Trump Administration, doesn’t directly affect pocket.watch since its core audience is a bit younger.
—Dade Hayes, Deadline, 4 Feb. 2025
The uproar over Gascón’s old posts erupted yesterday when writer Sarah Hagi shared a thread that included screen grabs of at least 12 posts where Gascón made offensive statements about Islam and Muslims.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 31 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for uproar 
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Justin Gest, Newsweek, 11 Feb. 2025
Still, Democrats attempted to tie Trump to the Project 2025 agenda, and Vought’s pick to lead the budget office caused some uproar on the Left.
—Zach Halaschak, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 7 Feb. 2025
The recent uproar over TikTok, which has been banned by the U.S. government but is a candidate for a potential rescue by the Trump Administration, doesn’t directly affect pocket.watch since its core audience is a bit younger.
—Dade Hayes, Deadline, 4 Feb. 2025
The uproar over Gascón’s old posts erupted yesterday when writer Sarah Hagi shared a thread that included screen grabs of at least 12 posts where Gascón made offensive statements about Islam and Muslims.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 31 Jan. 2025
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 16 Feb. 2025.
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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