commotion
American
noun
-
violent disturbance; upheaval
-
political insurrection; disorder
-
a confused noise; din
Synonym Usage
See ado.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of commotion
First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin commōtiōn-, stem of commōtiō, from commōt(us) “disturbed” (past participle of commovēre “to displace, disturb,” literally, “to move together”; see commove) + -iō -ion
Explanation
A commotion is a noisy disturbance. If you're trying to quietly concentrate on reading this, you wouldn't want the person next to you to cause a commotion, or it would distract you. Commotion, which comes from the Middle French word commocion, means "violent motion, agitation." It can be a disorderly outburst or disruption, like someone yelling in the street at night, or five people arguing about someone talking on a cellphone while a play is being performed in front of them. Commotion can also describe out-of-control movement, like people pushing and shoving to get to the front row of a concert.
Vocabulary lists containing commotion
100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know
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Essential Academic Vocabulary for Middle School Students, List 1
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List 6
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Muñoz, who declined to comment on the charges against him, said he’d been up to have coffee early that morning when he heard the commotion outside.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026
Seeing a commotion, a small group of passengers and crewmembers rushed to the front to regain control of the plane, according to interviews with passengers and social-media videos verified by The Wall Street Journal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Hours later she told the BBC that they had heard a loud commotion and then realised it was a fire when they saw smoke emerging from the unit where the babies were sleeping.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
He called on the supporters of Khan, who remains a dominant political personality, to abide by the party's agreement with the court that there "must not be any crowding or commotion".
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
One of the teachers on cafeteria duty broke into the crowd of kids that suddenly surrounded us once the commotion started.
From "Root Magic" by Eden Royce
The harmonious commotions at the family dining table.
From Salon ● Jan. 25, 2026
At the convenience store, a manager told investigators that the suspect “had previously caused other commotions in the store,” police said.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 9, 2022
He was beautiful enough to cause commotions in tabloids and in teenagers’ chests, but there was always more to Perry than a pinup.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2019
But there have been many commotions since, and worse snubs.
From Economist ● Dec. 6, 2017
As his eyes followed the print the rest of his senses were on the alert to the various commotions that went on around him.
From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
