pandemonium
Americannoun
-
wild confusion; uproar
-
a place of uproar and chaos
Other Word Forms
- pandemoniac adjective
- pandemoniacal adjective
- pandemonian adjective
- pandemonic adjective
Etymology
Origin of pandemonium
1660–70; after Pandaemonium, Milton's name in Paradise Lost for the capital of hell; see pan-, demon, -ium
Explanation
Pandemonium is chaos, total and utter craziness — like the stampede after your team won the championship, when everyone spilled onto the field at once, bouncing off each other. If you look carefully at the word pandemonium, you’ll see the word demon inside it. This makes sense, since the word pandemonium was coined in Milton’s Paradise Lost, where it was the name of the palace built in the middle of Hell. Milton wrote back in the 17th century. Nowadays, pandemonium crops up whenever journalists are describing a chaotic scene. High school students have been heard to use it to describe their lunchroom.
Vocabulary lists containing pandemonium
Words from "The Avengers"
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Refugee
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"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 8–13
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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 secretary has worked to make herself the face of these invasions, which have invariably led to pandemonium.
From Salon • Feb. 18, 2026
Amine Adli prodded home to make it 3-2 with nearly the last touch of the game after a scramble in the box following a long throw, sparking scenes of pandemonium.
From Barron's • Jan. 24, 2026
After England were beaten by Australia inside two days in Perth, the second Test began with four overs of pandemonium in Brisbane.
From BBC • Dec. 4, 2025
Kiffin, now the head coach at Ole Miss, has somehow caused an outbreak of total pandemonium at three of the proudest college football programs in the country—including his own.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 25, 2025
“At this period of history, man began to learn more about his environment—” Suddenly, pandemonium reigned.
From "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier
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.
