1
: wide and general destruction : devastation
A tornado wreaked havoc on the town two years ago.
2
: great confusion and disorder
the blackout caused havoc in the city
Synonyms
Examples of havoc in a Sentence
Noun
The disease can play havoc with the body's immune system.
Several small children can create havoc in a house.
Recent Examples on the Web
Naomi Schanen, Washington Post, 11 July 2024
Zoom in: With the storm and downed trees causing havoc on local power infrastructure, more than 2.2 million CenterPoint Energy customers were without power Monday.
—Asher Price, Axios, 9 July 2024
Joy does not want Sadness to touch any of Riley’s core memories, and her attempt to stop her from doing so creates emotional havoc, which is only resolved when Joy finally relents.
—Jay Caspian Kang, The New Yorker, 21 June 2024
Match of the tournament so far The drama had started even before the game in Dortmund kicked off, with extreme weather causing havoc in parts of Germany.
—Ben Church, CNN, 18 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for havoc 
Noun
But while experts are not sure what’s driving the orca incidents, a leading theory is that the killer whales causing havoc largely off Europe’s Iberian Peninsula are just playful, bored teenagers.
—Naomi Schanen, Washington Post, 11 July 2024
Zoom in: With the storm and downed trees causing havoc on local power infrastructure, more than 2.2 million CenterPoint Energy customers were without power Monday.
—Asher Price, Axios, 9 July 2024
Joy does not want Sadness to touch any of Riley’s core memories, and her attempt to stop her from doing so creates emotional havoc, which is only resolved when Joy finally relents.
—Jay Caspian Kang, The New Yorker, 21 June 2024
Match of the tournament so far The drama had started even before the game in Dortmund kicked off, with extreme weather causing havoc in parts of Germany.
—Ben Church, CNN, 18 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for havoc
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'havoc.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Havoc.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/havoc. Accessed 26 Jul. 2024.
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