1
: marked by tumult : loud, excited, and emotional2
: tending or disposed to cause or incite a tumult the laws … were violated by a tumultuous faction—Edward Gibbon3
: marked by violent or overwhelming turbulence or upheaval Examples of tumultuous in a Sentence For someone with such a tumultuous inner world, the muscular choice-is-all school of moral philosophy could not be satisfactory. —Martha C. Nussbaum, New Republic, 31 Dec. 2001 The tumultuous sensual undercurrent of the Orient had, like water in the desert, gone underground and though perhaps it bubbled up behind courtyard walls, in public places it kept out of sight. —Leila Hadley, Give Me the World, (1958) 1999 The teams walked onto the field to tumultuous applause. —J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, 1999 We were not accustomed to loran, and to pick up a buoy, as I now did with my binoculars, after thirty days of tumultuous seas, at precisely the time and angle that our charted position led us to anticipate, struck me as nothing short of miraculous. —Louis Auchincloss, "Atlantic War," in Authors at Sea, Robert Shenk, ed., 1997 The returning astronauts were given a tumultuous welcome. The room filled with tumultuous applause. Recent Examples on the Web Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback. Even as their value may fluctuate during tumultuous markets or when interest rates change, bondholders can count on receiving their interest income twice a year and their par value at maturity. —Darla Mercado, Cfp®, CNBC, 1 May 2025 My experience with masseter injections wasn’t always so tumultuous. —Mary Honkus, Allure, 29 Apr. 2025 The Smashing Machine trailer spotlights Kerr’s dominance in the UFC ring, his addiction to painkillers, his tumultuous relationship with girlfriend Dawn Staples (Blunt), and the toll that decades of fights took on his body. —Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 29 Apr. 2025 The former All-Star has given his all to this team following a tumultuous exit from the Miami Heat. —Mohammed Soliman, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for tumultuous Word HistoryFirst Known Use
circa 1548, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of tumultuous was circa 1548 Cite this Entry“Tumultuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tumultuous. Accessed 10 May. 2025.
Last Updated: 5 May 2025 - Updated example sentencesLove words? Need even more definitions?
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