three-ring circus
Bedlam under canvas
A three-ring circus is a circus with three performance areas operating simultaneously.
The phrase more often describes any scene of chaos, confusion, or overwhelming activity with too much happening at once: The hearing devolved into a three-ring circus.
The implication is that attention is divided and order has broken down.
Main circus tent
- ringmasterCircus performance director
- acrobatsPerformers of athletic feats
- clownsComic performers in costume
- trapezeSuspended acrobatic bar
tightrope · lion tamer · elephants · performers · fire breather · aerialists · tumblers · stilts
State of utter confusion
- mayhemViolent disorder and destruction
- bedlamState of wild disorder
- turmoilViolent disturbance or confusion
- disarrayLack of order
confusion · havoc · disorder · commotion · uproar · madhouse · frenzy · tumult
Sequential toss-and-catch performance
- multitaskingDoing several things concurrently
- hecticIntensely busy, almost overwhelming
- franticWildly anxious or desperate
- demandingRequiring great effort
exhausting · nonstop · relentless · overload · swamped · bombarded · spinning plates · too much
big top
Main circus tent
- ringmasterCircus performance director
- acrobatsPerformers of athletic feats
- clownsComic performers in costume
trapeze · tightrope · lion tamer · elephants · performers · fire breather · aerialists · tumblers · stilts · unicycle
pandemonium
State of utter confusion
- mayhemViolent disorder and destruction
- bedlamState of wild disorder
- turmoilViolent disturbance or confusion
disarray · confusion · havoc · disorder · commotion · uproar · madhouse · frenzy · tumult · fiasco
juggling
Sequential toss-and-catch performance
- multitaskingDoing several things concurrently
- hecticIntensely busy, almost overwhelming
- franticWildly anxious or desperate
demanding · exhausting · nonstop · relentless · overload · swamped · bombarded · spinning plates · too much · impossible
- circus types
- circuscircus, big top, clown, clowns, ringmaster
- chaos idiomsall hell breaks loose, pandemonium, madhouse, circus, bedlam
- threestrio, triad, triple, triplet, trilogy
- traveling showstraveling troupe, roadshow, road show, circus, vaudeville
three-ring circuscalm
Free from agitation
order · tranquility · serenity · orderliness · quiet
three-ring circussimplicity
Lack of complexity
minimalism · one-man show · monotony · bare bones · streamlined process
three, triangle, three-ring, trinity, tricolor, trifecta, trilateral