From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishunrulyun‧ru‧ly /ʌnˈruːli/ adjective 1 VIOLENTviolent or difficult to control SYN wild unruly children unruly behaviour2 UNTIDYunruly hair is difficult to keep tidy —unruliness noun [uncountable]
Examples from the Corpus
unruly• In recent years, however, the fundamentalist camp has grown unruly.• A family attempts to cope with the eruption into their lives of an unruly aunt.• So in May Disney obtained permission to move 100 of the bald, hunch-backed and unruly birds 60 miles away.• Gardeners regularly stroll the grounds, picking up stray pieces of trash and trimming unruly bushes.• You can spot her by her unruly hair and her shocking-pink work suit.• They recruited their soldiers from the more adventurous or the more unruly on their route.• She cried her heart out, all because of an unruly trouble-making, black-hearted child who was ripping her apart.Origin unruly (1400-1500) ruly “behaving well” ((15-21 centuries)), from rule 