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:
Owen said he "heard a bit of commotion outside at about 1am and saw the police bringing a man out of the building".
From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026
In the meantime, there’s a lot of unwieldy comic commotion involving a missing corpse, a tweaking, naked Dwight and enough insipid TV sibling bickering to clog the airwaves for a decade.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
By far the ugliest commotion was a tweet from a political figure many of us were fortunate to be unfamiliar with, Texas Railroad Commission candidate Bo French.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
He called on the supporters of the ex-cricket captain -- who remains Pakistan's dominant political personality -- to abide by his party's agreement with the court that there "must not be any crowding or commotion".
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
We wait, pretending to appreciate a rather homely rendering of George Washington in the lobby, when a commotion descends from a nearby staircase.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
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.
