disorder
Americannoun
-
lack of order or regular arrangement; confusion.
Your room is in utter disorder.
- Synonyms:
- clutter, litter, jumble, disarray, disorderliness
-
an irregularity.
a disorder in legal proceedings.
-
breach of order; disorderly conduct; public disturbance.
- Synonyms:
- turbulence, riot
-
a disturbance in physical or mental health or functions; malady or dysfunction.
a mild stomach disorder.
verb (used with object)
-
to destroy the order or regular arrangement of; disarrange.
- Synonyms:
- disorganize, disarray
-
to derange the physical or mental health or functions of.
noun
-
a lack of order; disarray; confusion
-
a disturbance of public order or peace
-
an upset of health; ailment
-
a deviation from the normal system or order
verb
-
to upset the order of; disarrange; muddle
-
to disturb the health or mind of
Synonym Usage
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.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
have disorderedperfect
-
has disorderedperfect 3rd person singular
-
am disorderingprogressive 1st person singular
-
is disorderingprogressive 3rd person singular
-
disorderssingular 3rd person
-
have been disorderingperfect progressive
-
are disorderingprogressive
-
disorderingparticiple
-
has been disorderingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
Past
-
had disorderedperfect
-
was disorderingprogressive singular
-
disorderedsimple
-
were disorderingprogressive plural
-
had been disorderingperfect progressive
-
disorderedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of disorder
Explanation
Disorder is a lack of order — in other words, chaos, clutter, and general disarray. If everyone in your class is yelling and throwing things, there's no order: there's disorder. If all the library books are out of order and thrown sloppily on the shelf, that's disorder, too. If you mess or mix something up, you're disordering it. Many medical conditions and diseases are also called disorders, like post-traumatic stress disorder. Whenever there's disorder, something is wrong or out of whack.
Vocabulary lists containing disorder
Mayhem! Chaos! Pandemonium!
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for October 15–October 21, 2022
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Health and Healthcare, List 2
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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.
He has acknowledged being a frequent trash-talker online and a poor romantic partner when he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after returning from combat tours, a time that coincided with when he dated Fifield.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 6, 2026
"No matter the pain we feel, there is no justification for more violence and disorder," Starmer told lawmakers.
From Barron's • Jun. 3, 2026
Among the 524,817 participants who did not have a substance use disorder when the study began, those taking GLP-1 medications were less likely to develop one over time.
From Science Daily • Jun. 3, 2026
Al-Hashimi became a polyglot — speaking English, Farsi and Armenian — in part to curb the effects of a seizure disorder on her temporal lobe, which is crucial for language comprehension.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 3, 2026
Emptiness and disorder were the primeval, natural state of the cosmos, and there was always a nagging fear that at the end of time, disorder and void would reign once more.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
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.
