disarray
Americanverb (used with object)
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to put out of array or order; throw into disorder.
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to undress.
noun
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disorder; confusion.
The army retreated in disarray.
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disorder of apparel.
noun
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confusion, dismay, and lack of discipline
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(esp of clothing) disorderliness; untidiness
verb
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to throw into confusion
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archaic to undress
Etymology
Origin of disarray
1350–1400; (noun) late Middle English; Middle English disrai, d ( e ) rai < Anglo-French dissairay, Old French desaroi; (v.) Middle English disarayen < Anglo-French desaraier, Old French desareer; dis- 1, array
Explanation
If something is confused or disorganized, use the noun disarray, like the disarray that follows your little brother everywhere he goes because he spills everything and never puts away his toys. Combine the prefix dis-, meaning “lack of,” with array, which derives from the Old French word areer ("to put in order"), and... you’ve got a mess on your hands — or a lack of order. That's disarray. Whether it’s your plans, your kitchen, your workplace, or your hair, the noun disarray can be used to describe anything that is characterized by disorder, untidiness, or confusion.
Vocabulary lists containing disarray
Tuck Everlasting
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Mayhem! Chaos! Pandemonium!
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This Week in Words: January 27 - February 2, 2018
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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.
The disarray may have encouraged his decision to make a complex, unsettling painting.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026
Results from some of the biggest chains this week will offer a sense of how that rebound is going, as stores and their customers continue the slog through higher living costs and tariff disarray.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 1, 2026
But her Olympic plans were thrown into disarray when she crashed in a World Cup race at Crans Montana, Switzerland, on January 30.
From Barron's • Feb. 8, 2026
District 4 School Board member Nick Melvoin was at Palisades Charter High the day after the fires began, and said he remembered the state of disarray in clear detail.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 27, 2026
It was more than annoying, because he had been careful to lay the wood neatly as he chopped, and each bump led to further disarray of the tidy pile.
From "A Single Shard" by Linda Sue Park
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.
