turmoil
Americannoun
-
a state of great commotion, confusion, or disturbance; tumult; agitation; disquiet.
mental turmoil caused by difficult decisions.
- Synonyms:
- uproar, disorder, turbulence
-
Obsolete. hard labor; toil.
noun
verb
Synonym Usage
See agitation.
Etymology
Origin of turmoil
First recorded in 1520–30; originally as verb: “to agitate”; etymology uncertain; perhaps tur(n) + moil
Explanation
Mashed potatoes flew in one direction, peas in another. Kids were standing on chairs. The principal was shouting, but no one listened. "Food fight!" the seniors cried. The cafeteria was in a state of turmoil. Turmoil rhymes with boil — think of the way that boiling water moves, and you'll understand what turmoil looks like. It refers to confusion, chaos, violent disturbance. The economy can be in turmoil — the markets behaving erratically, people losing their jobs, and no one understanding why.
Vocabulary lists containing turmoil
List 1
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This Week in Words: October 13 – 20, 2018
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Franklin Roosevelt, "Four Freedoms" (1941)
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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.
Omar says she no longer has her birth certificate, and records with the Somali government are unsurprisingly unavailable, given the country’s decades of internal turmoil.
From Slate ● Oct. 13, 2026
Stop The Wedding sets the tone, with abrupt tempo changes that track Ashe's inner turmoil.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
Known for his math skills and obsession with exotic parrots, Lemssouguer has faced big swings before, given his penchant for taking large stakes in companies in turmoil.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Christine Idzelis compared this year’s jump in yields with previous periods of bond-market turmoil and considered whether bond investors are overshooting the mark as they anticipate further interest-rate increases by the Federal Reserve.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026
He was thrown into more turmoil when he heard that back in the United States, King had publicly come out against the war.
From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
