hubbub
/ˈhʌbʌb
/noun [in singular]
1A chaotic din caused by a crowd of people: a hubbub of laughter and shouting...
- The story in Seymour about the old monk dying and trying to overhear a conversation about washing, over the pious hubbub of the surrounding crowd is bathetic in the true sense.
- The announcement hushed the crowd but soon the hubbub returned and the misfortune was forgotten.
- The great hubbub of the crowd made it futile to call for him.
Synonyms
noise, loud noise, din, racket, commotion, clamour, ruckus, cacophony, babel
informal rumpus
British informal row
rare vociferation
1.1A busy, noisy situation: she fought through the hubbub...
- And the city is unbelievable too - a mad hubbub of noise and action.
- When they got to the market, she remembered being awed by all the scents and sounds, the hubbub of the nearby villagers and passing tourists.
- She says: ‘We are really fortunate that we are able to live where we do here in Nairn and not in the heart of a big hubbub that is more similar to the hubbub of work.’
Synonyms
confusion, chaos, pandemonium, bedlam, mayhem, uproar, disorder, turmoil, tumult, fracas, hurly-burly, havoc, brouhaha;
Scottish & Northern English stramash;
West Indian bangarang
informal hullabaloo
Origin
Mid 16th century: perhaps of Irish origin; compare with the Irish exclamations ababú, abú, used in battle cries.