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.
But diGenova’s investigation was apparently a chaotic mess.
From Salon ● Sep. 15, 2026
Shawna Dawson Beer, a longtime Altadena advocate, was glad this latest review acknowledged that it was “not just a chaotic night, ... but a cascade of failures.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
Chelsea still seem to be a bit chaotic with the way they defend, and they have leaked a few goals, but I have given them a clean sheet.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
The announcement kicked off a chaotic tussle over the funds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
I know what things were like before the War between the States, and even though the years after were chaotic, at least colored folks like me were free.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
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.
