anarchy
Americannoun
-
a state of society without government or law.
-
political and social disorder due to the absence of governmental control.
The death of the king was followed by a year of anarchy.
- Synonyms:
- turmoil, disruption, lawlessness
-
lack of obedience to an authority; insubordination.
the anarchy of his rebellious teenage years.
-
confusion and disorder.
Intellectual and moral anarchy followed his loss of faith.
It was impossible to find the book I was looking for in the anarchy of his bookshelves.
- Synonyms:
- disintegration, disorganization, license, turbulence, disruption, chaos
noun
-
general lawlessness and disorder, esp when thought to result from an absence or failure of government
-
the absence or lack of government
-
the absence of any guiding or uniting principle; disorder; chaos
-
the theory or practice of political anarchism
Other Word Forms
- anarchic adjective
- anarchically adverb
- hyperanarchy noun
- proanarchy adjective
Etymology
Origin of anarchy
First recorded in 1530–40; from Middle French anarchie or Medieval Latin anarchia or directly from Greek anarchía “lawlessness,” literally, “lack of a leader,” equivalent to ánarch(os) “leaderless” ( an- “without, lacking” + arch(ós) “leader” + -os adjective suffix) + -ia noun suffix; an- 1, -y 3
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.
Lincoln’s opposition to anarchy of any kind was absolute and clarion: “There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 9, 2026
Unlike anarchy, economic chaos is driven by creative destruction, and productivity is a long-term plus.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 9, 2025
Parents, as I can now attest, experience it as sleep-wrecking proof that the human construct of time is no match for the anarchy of toddlerdom.
From Slate • Oct. 31, 2025
He admitted the protesters had legitimate concerns about the finance bill but said: "We cannot have a country that also is led through anarchy and mayhem."
From BBC • Apr. 29, 2025
Paula had the air of a real ideologue; she could, Ifemelu imagined, slip easily into anarchy, stand at the forefront of protests, defying the clubs of policemen and the taunts of unbelievers.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Definitions 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.
