mayhem
Americannoun
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Law. the crime of willfully inflicting a bodily injury on another so as to make the victim less capable of self-defense or, under modern statutes, so as to cripple or mutilate the victim.
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random or deliberate violence or damage.
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a state of rowdy disorder.
Antagonisms between the various factions at the meeting finally boiled over, and mayhem ensued.
noun
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law the wilful and unlawful infliction of injury upon a person, esp (formerly) the injuring or removing of a limb rendering him less capable of defending himself against attack
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any violent destruction or confusion
Etymology
Origin of mayhem
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English maheym, maim, from Anglo-French mahe(i)m, mahaim, from Germanic; akin to Middle High German meidem “gelding,” Old Norse meitha “to injure”; see maim
Explanation
Mayhem is a violent and rowdy disturbance, like what you might experience at an overcrowded rock concert or a day-after-Thanksgiving sale. You may encounter several types of disturbances in your life, but mayhem is typically used for disturbances involving crowds. The word mayhem comes to us not from Latin, as many English words do, but from Anglo-French, a dialect of French that developed in England several centuries ago. We’re guessing those Anglo-French speakers had a reputation for being a pretty rowdy bunch.
Vocabulary lists containing mayhem
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Mayhem! Chaos! Pandemonium!
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "M"
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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 animals caused mayhem on the A127 at Dunton, near Basildon, as they darted in between cars on Sunday afternoon, leading to the road's closure.
From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026
Thunder and lightning have boomed across Marseille following the weekend's mayhem, illuminating the cracked windows and boarded-up doors of hundreds of businesses that were smashed as protests gave way to disorder.
From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026
For the Amicus bonus episode, Dahlia unpacks the election mayhem happening in Missouri with Madiba K. Dennie, deputy editor and senior contributor at Balls and Strikes.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
Noise, odors and general mayhem have gone hand-in-hand at the tournament almost since it moved here in 1978.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026
Every half hour brought an escalation in the mayhem outside.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
