riot

C1 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈɹaɪ.ət/ See IPA manual

Freq #5884

Meanings

1

noun
A violent disturbance by a large, uncontrolled crowd of people.

The peaceful protest turned into a riot after several days.
2

verb
To take part in a violent public disturbance.

Crowds rioted in the streets after the announcement.
3

noun
A person or event that is extremely funny or entertaining.

The comedian was an absolute riot last night.
4

noun
An impressively large and varied display of something.

In summer the garden is a riot of colour.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a violent disturbance by a... riotingpublic violence

3 noun · a person or event that is... howler

More anarchy chaos discord disorder disorderliness disturbance instability lawlessnessmayhemrowdinessstrife

Word family

Forms riotedriots

Derived forms anti-riotantiriotariotcounterriotnonriotingpostriotpreriotrioterriotiseriotistriotlessriotous

Related forms commotion

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

riot police
police trained and equipped to control large, violent crowds

Adjective + noun

Idioms (1)

See all

run riot
to behave in a wild, uncontrolled way that creates disorder

Simplified etymology

Riot entered English in the Middle Ages from an Old French word meaning “quarrel.” In its earliest English use, it meant “dissolute living.”

Etymology

From Middle English riot (“debauched living, dissipation”), from Old French riote (“debate”), from rioter (“to quarrel”), perhaps related to riboter or from Latin rugio (“to roar”). Compare French riotte and Occitan riòta.

riot Middle English riote Old French rugio Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# riot

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈɹaɪ.ət/
**Frequency rank:** 5884

## Meanings
1. A violent disturbance by a large, uncontrolled crowd of people.
2. To take part in a violent public disturbance.
3. A person or event that is extremely funny or entertaining.
4. An impressively large and varied display of something.

## Examples
- The peaceful protest turned into a riot after several days.
- Crowds rioted in the streets after the announcement.
- The comedian was an absolute riot last night.
- In summer the garden is a riot of colour.

## Synonyms
- anarchy
- chaos
- discord
- disorder
- disorderliness
- disturbance
- instability
- lawlessness
- mayhem
- rioting
- rowdiness
- strife

## Derived Forms
- anti-riot
- antiriot
- ariot
- counterriot
- nonrioting
- postriot
- preriot
- rioter
- riotise
- riotist
- riotless
- riotous

## Related Forms
- commotion

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: riot
- Root: riote
- Root: rugio

## Etymology
From Middle English riot (“debauched living, dissipation”), from Old French riote (“debate”), from rioter (“to quarrel”), perhaps related to riboter or from Latin rugio (“to roar”). Compare French riotte and Occitan riòta.

## AI Etymology
Riot comes from Middle English riot (“debauched living, dissipation”), from Old French riote (“debate”), from rioter (“to quarrel”), perhaps related to riboter or from Latin rugio (“to roar”). Compare French riotte and Occitan riòta. The historical chain includes riot (Middle English), riote (Old French), and rugio (Latin). The surrounding word family includes derived forms such as anti-riot, antiriot, ariot, and counterriot and related forms such as commotion. In present use it covers a violent disturbance by a large, uncontrolled crowd of people, to take part in a violent public disturbance, and a person or event that is extremely funny or entertaining.

## Topics
- People & Society

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