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 (Southern England):

  (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], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     At length a universal hubbub wild
     Of stunning sounds and voices all confused,
     Borne through the hollow dark, assaults his ear
     With loudest vehemence.

   • 1943 October 30, Falling Hare, spoken by Bugs Bunny:

     What's all the hubbub, bub?

Translations

a confused uproar, commotion, tumult or racket

• Arabic: جَلَبَة f (jalaba), صَخَب m (ṣaḵab), ضَوْضَاء m (ḍawḍāʔ), 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 (zh) (xuānhuá), 吵鬧／吵闹 (zh) (chǎonào), 塵囂／尘嚣 (zh) (chénxiāo)

• Finnish: mekkala (fi), hälinä (fi), kohina (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
• Ottoman Turkish: خلاش (hılaş)
• 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
• Swedish: ståhej (sv) n
• 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.