chaotic

adjective

cha·​ot·​ic kā-ˈä-tik 

1

: marked by chaos or being in a state of chaos : completely confused or disordered

a chaotic political race

After he became famous, his life became even more chaotic.

They may look chaotic and barbaric, but scrums are a critical and strategic part of the game, and they unfold and escalate according to hockey's venerated, unwritten rules of engagement.

—David Fleming

To the uninitiated visitor, the seemingly chaotic energy of a typical Thai market may give the impression of a free-for-all, …

—Diane Ruengsom

2

mathematics : having outcomes that can vary widely due to extremely small changes in initial conditions

In other words, what comes out of the program's equations is extremely sensitive to what goes in. And that, as any mathematician would recognize, is one of the hallmarks of chaotic systems.

—Ingrid Wickelgren

A physical system—a weather system, say—is chaotic if a very slight change in initial conditions sends the system off on a very different course.

—Physics Today

chaotically

kā-ˈä-ti-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

a chaotically busy scene

Synonyms

• cluttered
• confused
• disarranged
• disarrayed
• disheveled
• dishevelled
• disordered
• disorderly
• higgledy-piggledy
• hugger-mugger
• jumbled
• littered
• messed
• messy
• muddled
• mussed
• mussy
• pell-mell
• rumpled
• sloppy
• topsy-turvy
• tousled
• tumbled
• unkempt
• untidy
• upside-down

Examples of chaotic in a Sentence

a chaotic cellar sorely in need of some straightening up

Recent Examples on the Web

He was reinstated after a chaotic week that included a mass employee revolt and a brief stint at Microsoft. —Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 20 June 2025

More than a decade ago, a Reuters investigation concluded that Iran's ayatollah also controlled a massive financial empire built on property seizures in the chaotic years after the 1979 revolution, when many Iranians fled overseas. —Kim Hjelmgaard, USA Today, 19 June 2025

The chaotic scenes unfolded when agents deployed rubber bullets, tear gas and flash bangs to disperse the crowd who had swarmed the compound, according to video captured by Turning Point USA’s Frontlines. —Michael Dorgan, FOXNews.com, 19 June 2025

From there, the tone was set for a chaotic and increasingly aggressive contest. —Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 18 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1688, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for chaotic

• aprotic
• aquatic
• biotic
• cirrhotic
• despotic
• dichotic
• erotic
• euphotic
• exotic
• fibrotic
• hieratic
• hypnotic