chaos
Everything going haywire
Chaos is complete disorder and confusion—a state where nothing follows predictable patterns.
The word describes situations where normal structure has collapsed: The office was in chaos after the merger announcement, Traffic chaos followed the power outage.
Chaos can also refer to the formless void that existed before the universe took shape, a sense preserved in cosmology and philosophy.
In mathematics and physics, chaos theory studies systems that appear random but follow underlying rules sensitive to initial conditions—the famous "butterfly effect." (Capitalized Chaos is the primordial deity in Greek mythology.)
Lack of order
- confusionMental disorientation or bewilderment
- messDisorderly, troublesome condition
- clutterUntidy collection of items
- jumbleConfused disorderly collection
shambles · tangle · muddle · disorganization · hodgepodge · scramble · dishevelment · turmoil
Quantified chaos in systems
- thermodynamicsScience of heat-energy relationships
- randomnessLack of predictable pattern
- butterfly effectSmall inputs, disproportionate results
- complexityState of being complicated
nonlinear · turbulence · fractals · strange attractor · bifurcation · sensitive dependence · Lorenz · emergent
Lack of predictable pattern
- uncertaintyState of being unsure
- volatilityRapid, unpredictable changeability
- instabilityTendency toward unpredictable change
- fluctuationIrregular change over time
chance · indeterminacy · variability · spontaneity · caprice · whimsicality · serendipity · fortune
Disorder from absent authority
- rebellionDefiance of established power
- revolutionViolent governmental overthrow
- insurrectionViolent uprising against authority
- uprisingOrganized resistance to power
revolt · unrest · sedition · subversion · dissidence · insurgency · mutiny · resistance
Without legal effect
- abyssImmeasurably profound depth
- formlessnessLacking definite shape
- emptinessAbsence of substance
- primevalFrom earliest times
Violent public disturbance
- carnageWidespread violent death
- destructionAct of completely ruining
- rampageViolent, destructive outburst
- lootingTheft during disorder
brawl · clash · strife · aggression · conflict
disarray
Lack of order
- confusionMental disorientation or bewilderment
- messDisorderly, troublesome condition
- clutterUntidy collection of items
jumble · shambles · tangle · muddle · disorganization · hodgepodge · scramble · dishevelment · turmoil · derangement
entropy
Quantified chaos in systems
- thermodynamicsScience of heat-energy relationships
- randomnessLack of predictable pattern
- butterfly effectSmall inputs, disproportionate results
complexity · nonlinear · turbulence · fractals · strange attractor · bifurcation · sensitive dependence · Lorenz · emergent · dissipative
randomness
Lack of predictable pattern
- uncertaintyState of being unsure
- volatilityRapid, unpredictable changeability
- instabilityTendency toward unpredictable change
fluctuation · chance · indeterminacy · variability · spontaneity · caprice · whimsicality · serendipity · fortune · hazard
anarchy
Disorder from absent authority
- rebellionDefiance of established power
- revolutionViolent governmental overthrow
- insurrectionViolent uprising against authority
uprising · revolt · unrest · sedition · subversion · dissidence · insurgency · mutiny · resistance · overthrow
void
Without legal effect
- abyssImmeasurably profound depth
- formlessnessLacking definite shape
- emptinessAbsence of substance
riot
Violent public disturbance
- carnageWidespread violent death
- destructionAct of completely ruining
- rampageViolent, destructive outburst
cacophony
Harsh, clashing sounds
hubbub · babel · furor · brouhaha · hullabaloo · ruckus · rumpus · kerfuffle
- abstract conceptsparadox, emotions, justice, truth, beauty
- chaosmayhem, pandemonium, bedlam, turmoil, havoc
- classroom dynamicsparticipation, attention, engagement, discussion, questions
- clutterclutter, junk, mess, stuff, debris
- commotioncommotion, clamor, brouhaha, bedlam, hullabaloo
- conflictsargument, fight, war, battle, dispute
chaosorder
Methodical arrangement or request
organization · system · structure · orderliness · method
- controlled chaosDisorder serving deliberate purpose
- organized chaosApparent mess, underlying order
- chaos theoryStudy of sensitive dependence
- complete chaos
- total chaos
- order and chaosPattern and formlessness together