hubbub

hubbub

See also: hub-bub

English

Alternative forms

• whobub (obsolete)

Etymology

Mid 16th c. Perhaps from Irish; compare Irish ababú!, abú! (battle-cry), Scottish Gaelic ub! ub! (expressing contempt, etc.), ubh ubh! (expressing disgust).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhʌbʌb/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Noun

hubbub (plural hubbubs)

1. A confused uproar, commotion, tumult or racket.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:commotion

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:

     At length a universal hubbub wild

     Of stunning sounds and voices all confused,

     Borne through the hollow dark, assaults his ear

     With loudest vehemence.

Translations

a confused uproar, commotion, tumult or racket

Arabic: جَلَبَة‎ f (jalaba), صَخَب‎ m (ṣaḵab), ضَوْضَاء‎ m (ḍawḍāʾ), ضَجَّة‎ f (ḍajja), ضَجِيج‎ m (ḍajīj) Basque: zalaparta Bulgarian: глъчка (bg) f (glǎčka), врява (bg) f (vrjava) Catalan: gatzara (ca) f, aldarull (ca) m, cridòria (ca) f, rebombori (ca) m, brogit (ca) m, avalot (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 喧嘩／喧哗 (zh) (xuānhuá), 吵鬧／吵闹 (zh) (chǎonào), 塵囂／尘嚣 (zh) (chénxiāo) Finnish: mekkala (fi) French: brouhaha (fr) m, tohu-bohu (fr) Georgian: ყაყანი (q̇aq̇ani), გნიასი (gniasi) German: Tumult (de) m, Wirrwarr (de) m, Tohuwabohu (de) n, Trubel (de) m, Stimmengewirr (de) n, Durcheinander (de) n Greek: φασαρία (el) f (fasaría) Hungarian: lárma (hu) Italian: brusio (it) m Japanese: 喧々囂々 (ja) (けんけんごうごう, kenkengōgō), 猥雑 (ja) (わいざつ, waizatsu), 騒ぎ (さわぎ, sawagi) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: ھەرا‎ (hera) Macedonian: џагор m (džagor) Maltese: għagħa f Maori: hū, whakatioro, tararau, rarī Persian: هیاهو‎ (fa) (hayâhu) Plautdietsch: Jeläw n, Klommua m Polish: gwar (pl) m, harmider (pl) m, wrzawa (pl) f, zgiełk (pl) m, zamieszanie (pl) n, tumult (pl) m Portuguese: comoção (pt) f Russian: переполо́х (ru) m (perepolóx), гам (ru) m (gam) Spanish: algarabía (es) f, algarada (es) f, griterío (es) m, guirigay (es) m, tremolina (es) f, tiberio m Turkish: curcuna (tr), karmaşa (tr), patırtı (tr), velvele (tr)

Verb

hubbub (third-person singular simple present hubbubs, present participle hubbubing or hubbubbing, simple past and past participle hubbubed or hubbubbed)

1. (intransitive) To cause a tumult or racket.
   • 2016, Daniel Gray, Saturday, 3pm: 50 Eternal Delights of Modern Football

     It becomes a grotto, hubbubbing with more noise than any class on a school visit could make, the air mobbed by breathless chatter about life and the transfer window.