bedlam

[ bed-luhm ]
See synonyms for bedlam on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a scene or state of wild uproar and confusion.

  2. Archaic. an insane asylum or madhouse.

Origin of bedlam

1
A popular name for the Hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem in London, which served as a lunatic asylum from circa 1400; compare Middle English Bedleem, Bethleem,Old English BetleemBethlehem

Other words for bedlam

Words Nearby bedlam

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use bedlam in a sentence

  • The slippery slope argument isn't helpful when past history has demonstrated Senate rules can be changed without inducing bedlam.

    That Pesky Filibuster | Justin Green | December 1, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • He was remitted to bedlam, and became an awful warning that God will not always be insulted with impunity.

  • Among other disguises, many affected madness, and were distinguished by the name of bedlam Beggars.

  • There followed a wild yell, a pandemonium as though bedlam had been turned loose, and then a heavy fall and sudden quiet.

    Motor Matt's Mystery | Stanley R. Matthews
  • For a second she was uncertain from whence the bedlam came; then she leaped from the bed and ran to the closed door.

    Warrior of the Dawn | Howard Carleton Browne
  • The mad maid of the poets is a vagrant too, when she is free, and not singing within bedlam early in the morning, “in the spring.”

    Ceres' Runaway | Alice Meynell

British Dictionary definitions for bedlam

bedlam

/ (ˈbɛdləm) /


noun
  1. a noisy confused place or situation; state of uproar: his speech caused bedlam

  2. archaic a lunatic asylum; madhouse

Origin of bedlam

1
C13 bedlem, bethlem, after the Hospital of St Mary of Bethlehem in London

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012