disorder

[dis-awr-der]

noun

1. lack of order or regular arrangement; confusion.

   Your room is in utter disorder.

   Synonyms: clutter, litter, jumble, disarray, disorderliness

2. an irregularity.

   a disorder in legal proceedings.

3. breach of order; disorderly conduct; public disturbance.

   Synonyms: turbulence, riot

4. a disturbance in physical or mental health or functions; malady or dysfunction.

   a mild stomach disorder.

   Synonyms: indisposition, sickness, complaint, illness, malady, ailment

verb (used with object)

1. to destroy the order or regular arrangement of; disarrange.

   Synonyms: disorganize, disarray

2. to derange the physical or mental health or functions of.

   Synonyms: confuse, upset, disturb

disorder

/ dɪsˈɔːdə /

noun

1. a lack of order; disarray; confusion

2. a disturbance of public order or peace

3. an upset of health; ailment

4. a deviation from the normal system or order

verb

1. to upset the order of; disarrange; muddle

2. to disturb the health or mind of

Other Word Forms

• predisorder noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of disorder¹

First recorded in 1470–80; dis- ¹ + order

Synonym Study

Disorder, brawl, disturbance, uproar are disruptions or interruptions of a peaceful situation. Disorder refers to civil unrest or to any scene in which there is confusion or fighting: The police went to the scene of the disorder. A brawl is a noisy, unseemly quarrel, usually in a public place: a tavern brawl. A disturbance is disorder of a size as to inconvenience people: to cause a disturbance. An uproar is a tumult, a bustle and clamor of many voices, often because of a disturbance: a mighty uproar.

Example Sentences

Weight-loss drugs remain a risk to the company’s core business, seeing as Inspire Medical caters to patients with obstructive sleep apnea, a breathing disorder frequently linked to obesity.

Read more on Barron's

These early disruptions may help explain why hypertension is strongly associated with cognitive disorders, including vascular cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.

Read more on Science Daily

This additional responsibility helps explain why the absence of HSL results in lipodystrophy, and it offers new insights into metabolic disorders such as obesity and related health complications.

Read more on Science Daily

German psychiatric researchers of the early 20th century sought the causes of schizophrenia and other disorders in brain biology, an intellectual current that influenced the doctors who later carried out T4, as Ms. Antonetta writes.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

But today, Oliver is being hooked up to a machine and having some of his cells removed - the first crucial step in trying to halt his genetic disorder in this one-off treatment.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• chaos 
• complication 
• disturbance 
• lawlessness 
• trouble 
• unrest