Turmoil

/ˈtɜːmɔɪl/ · noun

Meaning

A state of great disorder or uncertainty..

Definitions by Sense

1. A state of great disorder or uncertainty.
2. Harassing labor; trouble; disturbance.
3. (obsolete, intransitive) To be disquieted or confused; to be in commotion.
4. (obsolete, transitive) To harass with commotion; to disquiet; to worry.

Example Sentences

Oleg Blokhin's side lost the talismanic Andriy Shevchenko to the substitutes' bench because of a knee injury but still showed enough to put England through real turmoil in spells.

The Taoists developed their philosophy during an extended era of turmoil known as the Warring States period of Chinese history.

And there I'll rest, as after much turmoil, / A blessed soul doth in Elysium.

The turmoil went on—no rest, no peace. […] It was nearly eleven o'clock now, and he strolled out again. In the little fair created by the costers' barrows the evening only seemed beginning; and the naphtha flares made one's eyes ache, the men's voices grated harshly, and the girls' faces saddened one.

some notable sophister lies sweating and turmoiling under the inevitable and merciless delimmas of Socrates

It is her fatal misfortune […] to be thus miserably tossed and turmoiled with these storms of affliction.

Synonyms for turmoil

Antonyms for turmoil

Related Words

Word Forms

• turmoils
• turmoiling
• turmoiled

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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