How to Use unruly in a Sentence

unruly

adjective
  • This year’s class is no less unruly.
    — Michael Slenske, HollywoodReporter, 14 Mar. 2026
  • This year’s class of 13 artists is no less unruly.
    — Thr Staff, HollywoodReporter, 11 Mar. 2026
  • Yes, some got unruly, but others took care of them.
    — Niki Donohue, New York Daily News, 3 May 2026
  • My hair was getting wiry and unruly.
    — Gina Vaynshteyn, StyleCaster, 11 May 2026
  • At the same time, the scribe had to press the unruly parchment flat against the desk.
    — Literary Hub, 6 July 2026
  • This technique is most often used to shape up an unruly shrub.
    — Beth Botts, chicagotribune.com, 6 Feb. 2022
  • Neighbors in the area say unruly dogs have been an issue.
    — Kristie Keleshian, CBS News, 23 Apr. 2026
  • If the pile becomes unruly, two smaller heaps work just as well.
    — Allison Duncan, WSJ, 22 Mar. 2022
  • Before the trim, the pup had an unruly white curly mane that covered her eyes.
    — Lydia Patrick, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 May 2025
  • Apply it to wet hair for wash-and-go styling or to tame unruly coils and spirals.
    — Jessica Teich, Good Housekeeping, 3 Aug. 2020
  • Of course, these tweezers don’t just work on blood-sucking bugs and unruly brows.
    — Katie Jackson, Travel + Leisure, 9 Sep. 2023
  • Appeasing the unruly rhythm of the text.
    — Literary Hub, 31 Mar. 2026
  • The ocelot proved unruly and was shipped out to the Portland Zoo.
    — David Reamer, Anchorage Daily News, 7 Dec. 2020
  • Their personas seem derived from the unruly and edgy rockstars of the past.
    — Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork, 4 Nov. 2024
  • The more flesh, the more dangerous and unruly the body became.
    — Virgie Tovar, refinery29.com, 29 Mar. 2022
  • Even in small towns, police use pepper balls and pepper spray to quell unruly crowds.
    — Graham Hurley, CNN Money, 20 Jan. 2026
  • One that’s been kidnapped, bound and gagged by an unruly gang of roasted garlic cloves.
    — Amy Drew Thompson, orlandosentinel.com, 16 Mar. 2021
  • Prune any wild or unruly shoots and remove any dead or diseased areas to keep the plant healthy.
    — Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 23 May 2026
  • Castor stared at her through the dark, unruly hair that had fallen into his eyes, his ivory skin flushed.
    — Seija Rankin, EW.com, 8 July 2020
  • When faced with harsh weather or unruly terrain, clothing should be the thing that saves the day—not spoils it.
    — Lauren Matison, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Dec. 2022
  • Their branches stretch in all directions like unruly cowlicks.
    — Maggie Heyn Richardson, Southern Living, 14 Aug. 2025
  • Barr has sought to cast the crowd as unruly, telling Fox News that bottles were thrown at him.
    — Matt Zapotosky, BostonGlobe.com, 10 June 2020
  • Sprawling pumpkins and melon plants may be too unruly to keep in small spaces.
    — Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 May 2026
  • Ozzy Osbourne was an unruly chaos agent and a beloved family man alike.
    — Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 23 July 2025
  • If your yard feels more unruly than relaxing, one of these common culprits may be to blame.
    — Jessica Safavimehr, Southern Living, 2 July 2026
  • As in Melville, worlds collide amid the unruly frictions of men on the margins.
    — Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2022
  • This unruly blob of a fly hatched in the Adirondacks decades ago and has been catching trout ever since.
    — Morgan Lyle, Field & Stream, 31 Jan. 2020
  • The limbs erupted from the seat and desktop, in all directions — strange, unruly, alive.
    — New York Times, 13 Jan. 2022
  • Barr has sought to cast the crowd as an unruly one, telling Fox News that bottles were thrown at him that day.
    — Matt Zapotosky, Anchorage Daily News, 10 June 2020
  • This isn’t the first time goats have been brought on to tackle unruly slices of land in the Baltimore area.
    — Angela Roberts, baltimoresun.com, 16 Oct. 2020

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'unruly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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