disorder
/dɪsˈɔːdə
/noun [mass noun]
1A state of confusion: the world 's currency markets were in disorder...
- In fact, from the moment her family jumped in the car to go on their yearly camping trip, her life was full of chaos, disorder and confusion.
- Looking at the current list, with almost every line scribbled out and switched around, there remains considerable disorder and confusion among the students.
- Judging by Andy's experience, the Greek courts are a forum for disorder and confusion.
Synonyms
untidiness, disorderliness, mess, disarray, disorganization, chaos, confusion;
clutter, jumble;
a muddle, a mess, a shambles, a mare's nest
British informal a dog's dinner, a dog's breakfast, an omnishambles
1.1The breakdown of peaceful and law-abiding public behaviour: recurrent food crises led to outbreaks of disorder...
- The White Paper anticipated that it would be used as the most usual charge in relation to serious outbreaks of public disorder.
- He said Gardaí were stretched from their commitments in policing the EU presidency, combating public disorder and fighting terrorism.
- The operation has led to four arrests for public disorder, breach of an anti-social behaviour order and of a defendant who missed court.
Synonyms
unrest, disturbance, disruption, upheaval, tumult, turmoil, mayhem, pandemonium;
violence, fighting;
rioting, insurrection, rebellion, mutiny, lawlessness, anarchy;
breach of the peace, riot, fracas, rumpus, brouhaha, melee, hubbub, furore, affray
informal hoo-ha, aggro, argy-bargy, snafu
North American informal wilding
1.2 [count noun] Medicine An illness that disrupts normal physical or mental functions: skin disorders [mass noun]: an improved understanding of mental disorder...
- What is achieved by concluding that schizophrenia and other functional mental illnesses are disorders of the brain?
- My Dad always thought I had some sort of disorder where my eyes confused themselves or something.
- Any sportsman who experienced warning symptoms such as fainting during training or with a family history of sudden death should be screened an tested for signs of cardiac disorder.
Synonyms
disease, infection, complaint, problem, condition, affliction, malady, sickness, illness, ailment, infirmity;
defect, irregularity
informal bug, virus
British informal lurgy
verb [with object] (usually as adjective disordered)
1Disrupt the systematic functioning or neat arrangement of: she went to comb her disordered hair his sleep is disordered...
- Her hair was disordered but she wouldn't care this day, nor had she cared any other day.
- Her hair was tangled and disordered, forming wispy curls towards the front.
- The Forum helped blacks clean up their increasingly disordered neighborhoods and point their children toward success.
Synonyms
untidy, unkempt, messy, in a mess, disarranged, uncombed, unbrushed, ungroomed, tousled, tangled, tangly, knotted, knotty, matted, shaggy, straggly, windswept, windblown, wild;
disorganized, chaotic, confused, jumbled, muddled, unsystematic, out of order, out of place
informal ratty
North American informal mussed (up), all over the place
British informal shambolic
archaic draggle-tailed
1.1 Medicine Disrupt the normal functioning of: a patient who is mentally disordered...
- The present policy dividing inpatient care of mentally disordered prisoners between the prison service and the NHS needs reconsideration.
- The dentition is normally disordered in three separate ways and I'll give them each a D word so you can remember it.
- We have seen it with antidepressants in adults and methylphenidate in behaviourally disordered children.
Synonyms
dysfunctional, disturbed, unsettled, unbalanced, unstable, unsound, upset, poorly, sick, diseased
informal screwed up
Origin
Late 15th century (as a verb): alteration, influenced by order, of earlier disordain, from Old French desordener, ultimately based on Latin ordinare 'ordain'.