commotion
Americannoun
-
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.
Commotion also greeted the piece a few years later in the United States, home to many Irish Americans.
From Washington Post • Nov. 5, 2022
SAT-SUN Ocean Commotion activities to learn about sea creatures and their habitats, 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
From Seattle Times • Jun. 1, 2017
Commotion Over the Sale of John Denver’s Sanctuary SNOWMASS, Colo. — John Denver was a troubadour of Colorado, singing of clear skies and country roads, sunshine on his shoulder and Rocky Mountain highs.
From New York Times • Jun. 20, 2013
It was there, early last year, that he launched the Commotion wireless project, an open-source wireless mesh-networking venture backed by a $2-million grant from the U.S.
From Scientific American • Feb. 16, 2012
She went to the door, and stopping the first person she saw, inquired the cause of the Commotion.
From Mary Barton by Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn
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.
