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.
The Magnificent Seven erased nearly $890 billion in market value, the biggest one-day market cap decline since the tariff turmoil of April 2025.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
For all the current economic and geopolitical turmoil, the U.S. bond market is remarkably sanguine about the risks of a U.S. economic recession, even after oil’s big price jump.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
In 2014, taking advantage of the turmoil of the recent Arab Spring protests that rocked the Middle East, they marched south and took over the capital, Sanaa.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
In an interview with The Times published late Sunday, Burnham set out his ambition for change, saying he wanted to draw a line under a decade of political turmoil.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
Now that there was nothing more to do, the thoughts I had so far avoided came crowding in on me in agitated turmoil.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
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.
