はらんばんじょう (haranbanjyou)

* “J-WOTD” = “Japanese Word of the Day”

“Full of ups and downs” This pharse basically means that something has been eventful, but in a negative way.
Examples: 彼女の波瀾万丈な生活にずっとつきあってきたよ。 “I have put up with her rollercoaster of a life for so long”
It can be used for almost anything, even for more formal usages, 波瀾万丈な経歴 means a “checkered career” etc.
One More: 話が時代を超えて展開する時、波瀾万丈の物語の幕が開けます。”This creates an exciting saga as the story jumps through different periods in history”