disorder

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

Lack of order

Nouns

1. disorder, derangement; irregularity; misrule, anarchy, anarchism; untidiness, disunion; disquiet, discord; confusion, confusedness; disarray, jumble, huddle, litter, mess, mishmash, muddle (see mixture); disorganization, dishevelment; laxity; imbroglio, chaos, havoc, ado, clutter, muss, medley, commotion. Slang, just-raped look. See violence, formlessness.

2. complexity, complexness, complication, implication; intricacy, intrication; perplexity; network (see crossing), maze, labyrinth; wilderness, jungle, involution, entanglement; coil, convolution, tangled skein, [Gordian] knot, wheels within wheels. See unintelligibility.

3. turmoil, ferment, agitation, row, disturbance, tumult, uproar, riot, pandemonium, bedlam, scramble, fracas, embroilment, melee, rough and tumble; whirlwind, sauve qui peut; Babel, Saturnalia, Donnybrook Fair; confusion twice confounded. Informal, all hell let loose, a pretty kettle of fish. Slang, dog's breakfast.

Verbs

1. be disorderly; kick up a fuss or a row or dust, raise the roof, raise Cain or the devil, stir up a hornets' nest.

2. throw into disorder or confusion, put out of order, derange, ravel, ruffle, rumple, mess, mix up, muss, dishevel; complicate, [en]tangle; disorganize, disorder, disrupt; rock the boat, upset the apple cart. Informal, put the cat among the pigeons. Slang, foul up, roust.

3. perplex, confound, distract, disconcert, flurry, addle, fluster, bewilder; mix, embroil, muddle, disarrange, misplace. Slang, snow out, mind-fuck.

Adjectives

1. disorderly, orderless, out of order, out of place, irregular, desultory; unmethodical, unsymmetric, unsystematic; untidy, slovenly, mussy, messy, sloppy, like something the cat brought or dragged in; dislocated; promiscuous, indiscriminate; chaotic; anarchical, unarranged, disarranged, confused, deranged, mixed-up, topsy-turvy, helter-skelter, harum-scarum; aimless, shapeless; awry, haywire, disjointed, out of order, out of joint; all over the place, rough-and-tumble. Informal, out of kilter or whack, at sixes and sevens, [all] at sea, untogether. Slang, balled or fouled up, raggedy-ass, out to lunch, spaced out.

2. complex, intricate, complicated, perplexed, involved, labyrinthine, entangled, knotted, tangled, inextricable; tumultuous, riotous. Slang, screwed, fouled, or fucked up, ass-backward.

Adverbs — irregularly, by fits and starts; pell-mell, in a ferment, at sixes and sevens, at cross purposes; upside down, higgledy-piggledy, harumscarum, willy-nilly, any or every which way.

Quotations — Confusion worse confounded (Milton), Chaos often breeds life, when order breeds habit (Henry Adams), There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness is the true method (Melville), A large army is always disorderly (Euripides), Democracy... is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder. It dispenses a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike (Plato), A sweet disorder in the dress kindles in clothes a wantonness (Robert Herrick).

Antonyms, see order, simpleness, arrangement.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [Physical confusion]

Syn. disarray, confusion, jumble, shambles; see confusion 2 .

2. [Social confusion]

Syn. disturbance, tumult, uproar, bustle, discord, turbulence, misrule, turmoil, upheaval, complication, chaos, mayhem, terrorism, rioting, mob rule, anarchy, anarchism, lawlessness, disorderliness, rowdiness, imbroglio, entanglement, commotion, agitation, insurrection, revolution, rebellion, strike, disorganization, riot, state of violence, reign of terror, mobocracy, ochlocracy, tangled skein, ruckus*; see also disturbance 2 , trouble 2 .

Ant. order*, peace, tranquility.

3. [An illness]

Syn. ailment, sickness, malady, dysfunction; see disease .

See Synonym Study at confusion . v.

Syn. disarrange, clutter, scatter; see confuse , disorganize .

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus)

I

n.

1. disarray jumble, confusion, mess, disarrangement, clutter, disorganization, untidiness, chaos, muddle.

2. disturbance commotion, upset, agitation, unrest, chaos, turbulence, imbroglio, clamor, rumpus, *hullabaloo, fracas, anarchy, ferment, discord.

3. affliction ailment, malady, infirmity, sickness, illness, disease, syndrome.

ANT.: 1. order, organization, arrangement. 2. peace, calm, tranquility

II

v.

mix up, mess, disarrange, jumble, confuse, shuffle, clutter, disorganize, muddle, disturb, scatter, muss up.

ANT.: order, arrange, neaten

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) I noun 1. A lack of order or regular arrangement: chaos, clutter, confusedness, confusion, derangement, disarrangement, disarray, disorderedness, disorderliness, disorganization, jumble, mess, mix-up, muddle, muss, scramble, topsy-turviness, tumble. Slang: snafu. See ORDER. 2. A lack of civil order or peace: anarchy, lawlessness, misrule. See ORDER, PEACE. 3. An interruption of regular procedure or of public peace: agitation, commotion, disturbance, helter-skelter, stir1, tumult, turbulence, turmoil, uproar. Informal: flap, to-do. See CALM, ORDER. 4. A pathological condition of mind or body: ailment, complaint, disease, ill, illness, infirmity, malady, sickness. See HEALTH. 5. The condition of being sick: affliction, illness, indisposition, infirmity, sickness. See HEALTH. II verb 1. To put out of proper order: derange, disarrange, disarray, disorganize, disrupt, disturb, jumble, mess up, mix up, muddle, tumble, unsettle, upset. See ORDER. 2. To put into total disorder: ball up, confuse, jumble, mess up, muddle, scramble, snarl2. Slang: snafu. Idiom: play havoc with. See ORDER. 3. To put (the hair or clothes) into a state of disarray .: disarrange, dishevel, mess (up), muss (up), rumple, tousle. See ORDER. 4. To disturb the health or physiological functioning of: derange, turn, unsettle, upset. See HEALTH.