maelstrom
noun
a large, powerful, or violent whirlpool.
maelstrom
American
[meyl-struhm]
/ ˈmeɪl strəm /
noun
-
a large, powerful, or violent whirlpool.
-
a restless, disordered, or tumultuous state of affairs.
the maelstrom of early morning traffic.
- Synonyms:
- bedlam, pandemonium, tumult
-
(initial capital letter) a famous hazardous whirlpool off the NW coast of Norway.
maelstrom
1
British
/ ˈmeɪlstrəʊm /
noun
-
a large powerful whirlpool
-
any turbulent confusion
Maelstrom
2
British
/ ˈmeɪlstrəʊm /
noun
Etymology
Origin of maelstrom
1550–60 maelstrom for def. 3; < early Dutch maelstroom, now spelling maalstroom, representing mal ( en ) to grind + stroom stream. See meal 2, stream
Explanation
A maelstrom is a powerful whirlpool. A luckless ship might go down in one, and conflicting ocean currents might cause one. These days, you're more likely to hear maelstrom used metaphorically to describe disasters where many competing forces are at play. When an economy or a government fails, the situation is often described as a maelstrom. Following some precipitous event, all the forces at play — banks, governments, consumers — are trying as hard as they can to protect themselves. This creates a maelstrom — a perfect storm, so to speak — that drags any potential for rescue down with it. Maelstrom comes from an obsolete Dutch phrase meaning "whirling stream."
Vocabulary lists containing maelstrom
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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.
Anthony and Grietje left the maelstrom of 17th-century Amsterdam to start over in the New World.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 19, 2026
Her take is a maelstrom of splendid beauty and doomed love, colliding at a feverish pace that makes the fidelity to Brontë’s book moot.
From Salon • Feb. 23, 2026
The 31-year-old wife of Brooklyn Beckham has found herself in the centre of a media maelstrom following her husband's explosive social media post taking aim at his A-list parents, Sir David and Lady Victoria.
From BBC • Jan. 20, 2026
The country of 52 million, with the world’s No. 14 economy, has emerged from the maelstrom of 2025 in a geoeconomic sweet spot.
From Barron's • Dec. 31, 2025
On March 10, AT 3:50 p.m., justice was served in a maelstrom of emotion, grief, and a nagging uncertainty that had plagued these people since it all began.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
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.
