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• maelstrom
  maelstrom

  noun

  a large, powerful, or violent whirlpool.
• Maelstrom
  Maelstrom

  noun

  a strong tidal current in a restricted channel in the Lofoten Islands off the NW coast of Norway

maelstrom

American  

[mayl-struhm] / ˈmeɪl strəm /

noun

1. a large, powerful, or violent whirlpool.

2. a restless, disordered, or tumultuous state of affairs.

   the maelstrom of early morning traffic.

   Synonyms:

   bedlam, pandemonium, tumult

3. (initial capital letter) a famous hazardous whirlpool off the NW coast of Norway.

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maelstrom ¹ British  

/ ˈmeɪlstrəʊm /

noun

1. a large powerful whirlpool

2. any turbulent confusion

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Maelstrom ² British  

/ ˈmeɪlstrəʊm /

noun

1. a strong tidal current in a restricted channel in the Lofoten Islands off the NW coast of Norway

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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."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

maelstrom Maelstrom

“I just really want to get to the other side of all of this,” Meghan says in one entry, referring to the media maelstrom during their time in Britain.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

"Red card for Infantino" writes the Daily Mirror, spotlighting the man at the centre of the maelstrom: Fifa boss Gianni Infantino.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

In a maelstrom, one might think such niggling questions of jurisdiction and their attendant turf wars would be set aside.

From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026

Winfield and Buss weren’t the only names associated with the sports world to wade into the mayoral maelstrom.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2026

Wiser now, Ben had told his mother that he would disappear for the day if she did not devise a plan to keep the colonel out of the maelstrom of this ill-omened day.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

“I’ll chase him round Good Hope, and round the Horn, and round the Norway Maelstrom, and round perdition’s flames before I give him up.’

From Washington Times ● Feb. 6, 2018

"Nixon eschewed policy specifics, relying instead on what one reporter called 'oratory so evenhanded as to be meaningless,'" Michael Cohen writes in "American Maelstrom," his excellent history of the 1968 campaign.

From US News ● Jul. 22, 2016

Steven S DeKnight will direct Pacific Rim: Maelstrom, which will follow on from Guillermo del Toro's original.

From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2016

Redefining the fear factor were the "Maelstrom Maestros": Jennifer Kent made a storybook monster and a depressed mother's rage come horrifyingly alive in "The Babadook."

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 19, 2014

The major and Lady Maelstrom walked to the window and exchanged a few sentences, and then returned.

From Japhet in Search of a Father by Frederick Marryat

Related Words

• chaos
• turbulence
• turmoil