turmoil
Americannoun
-
a state of great commotion, confusion, or disturbance; tumult; agitation; disquiet.
mental turmoil caused by difficult decisions.
- Synonyms:
- uproar, disorder, turbulence
-
Obsolete. hard labor; toil.
noun
verb
Synonym Usage
See agitation.
Etymology
Origin of turmoil
First recorded in 1520–30; originally as verb: “to agitate”; etymology uncertain; perhaps tur(n) + moil
Explanation
Mashed potatoes flew in one direction, peas in another. Kids were standing on chairs. The principal was shouting, but no one listened. "Food fight!" the seniors cried. The cafeteria was in a state of turmoil. Turmoil rhymes with boil — think of the way that boiling water moves, and you'll understand what turmoil looks like. It refers to confusion, chaos, violent disturbance. The economy can be in turmoil — the markets behaving erratically, people losing their jobs, and no one understanding why.
Vocabulary lists containing turmoil
List 1
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This Week in Words: October 13 – 20, 2018
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Franklin Roosevelt, "Four Freedoms" (1941)
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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.
Slammed by rising interest rates and global turmoil, markets were resilient in the third quarter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
Consider, say, the past 10 years — a period of almost unprecedented turmoil, which should have been catnip for hedge funds.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026
But is all this recent turmoil really Patel’s fault?
From Slate ● Sep. 30, 2026
He isn’t particularly political and his creative turmoil barely registers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026
His face is in a whole different kind of turmoil than usual.
From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson
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.
