upheaval
Sudden dramatic change
Upheaval is violent disruption or dramatic change—the kind that overturns established conditions.
The word suggests something forced upward from below: geological upheaval raises mountains; political upheaval topples governments.
It applies to personal life too: The divorce caused tremendous upheaval for the whole family.
The scale is always significant—upheaval implies fundamental displacement, not minor disturbance.
Violent disturbance or confusion
- traumaLasting psychological wound
- distressSevere anxiety or suffering
- crisisDecisive dangerous moment
- chaosComplete disorder and confusion
anguish · turbulence · instability · disorientation · shock · grief · breakdown · devastation
Violent governmental overthrow
- coupAbrupt seizure of power
- overthrowForcible removal from power
- insurrectionViolent uprising against authority
- rebellionDefiance of established power
uprising · regime change · insurgency · mutiny · revolt · civil war · destabilization · power struggle
Reverse or invalidate
invert · dislodge · displace · uproot · overturning · tipping · collapse · tumble
Thorough change in form
- disruptionForceful interruption of process
- reformImprove by correcting faults
- restructuringRearranging an existing framework
- changeTo make different
shift · realignment · movement · awakening · reckoning · displacement · migration · exodus
turmoil
Violent disturbance or confusion
chaos · anguish · turbulence · instability · disorientation · shock · grief · breakdown · devastation · heartbreak
revolution
Violent governmental overthrow
- coupAbrupt seizure of power
- overthrowForcible removal from power
- insurrectionViolent uprising against authority
rebellion · uprising · regime change · insurgency · mutiny · revolt · civil war · destabilization · power struggle · toppling
overturn
Reverse or invalidate
flip · invert · dislodge · displace · uproot · overturning · tipping · collapse · tumble · unseat
transformation
Thorough change in form
- disruptionForceful interruption of process
- reformImprove by correcting faults
- restructuringRearranging an existing framework
change · shift · realignment · movement · awakening · reckoning · displacement · migration · exodus · resettlement
earthquake
Seismic ground movement
eruption · tremor · fault line · subduction · uplift · landslide · rift · crust · magma · tsunami
- conflictsargument, fight, war, battle, dispute
- discorddiscord, Discord, dissonance, discordance, dissonant
- changeschange, shift, alter, transformation, modify
- chaosmayhem, chaotic, pandemonium, bedlam, turmoil
- commotioncommotion, clamor, brouhaha, bedlam, hullabaloo
- disorderchaos, chaotic, disarray, mess, disordered
upheavalstability
Resistance to displacement
equilibrium · steadiness · continuity · constancy · permanence
upheavalpeace
Freedom from disturbance
calm · tranquility · serenity · harmony · peacefulness
- social upheavalDramatic disruption of established order
- political upheavalViolent governmental transformation
- cultural upheavalDramatic shift in values
- military upheavalForcible government seizure by armed forces