chaotic
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of chaotic
Explanation
Something chaotic is really out of control or disorganized. Chaotic starts with a hard "K" sound (kay-AH-tick), but things that are chaotic are usually not OK, they're crazy disordered, like your crammed locker at the end of the school year. Chaotic is an adjective that comes from the noun "chaos," meaning complete and total confusion or lack of order. Your teacher might find it chaotic inside the bus on the way home from a field trip, with so much talking and singing and stored up energy bouncing around. A classic example of something chaotic is the running of the bulls in Spain, an event that lets people run the streets with a bunch of huge, sharp-horned bulls. It's totally chaotic!
Vocabulary lists containing chaotic
"Marigolds"
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"Names/Nombres" by Julia Alvarez
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50 Great Words from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon
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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.
Local officials had appealed to Madrid for help after a recent rise in attempted crossings, but there were chaotic scenes on Thursday as border controls apparently broke down.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
It was, by all accounts, a chaotic, confusing, and awful scene—this kind of mass influx of people is not how any of this is supposed to work.
From Slate ● Jul. 31, 2026
Auden’s wit and precision in poetry stood in sharp contrast to his chaotic lifestyle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz faced a rising chorus of criticism from within his own centre-right CDU party Wednesday as he completed a chaotic cabinet reshuffle.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
It was obvious enough now they saw it—this was what happened when a chaotic retreat could go no further.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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.
