Did you know?
Melee Has French Roots
English has no shortage of words for confused and noisy fights, some (fray, brawl, scrap) more common than others (donnybrook, fracas). Melee tends to be encountered more often in written rather than spoken English, but it is far from obscure, and has seen increasing use especially in the context of video games featuring some form of hand-to-hand combat. Such games allow players to mix it up with all manner of rivals and baddies from the comfort and safety of their home, with mix being an especially apt word alongside melee: the latter comes from the French word mêlée, which in turn comes from the Old French verb mesler, meaning "to mix."
Examples of melee in a Sentence
Rowan Fisher-Shotton, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Oct. 2025
But then a whole melee broke out in this bar.
—Zack Sharf, Variety, 15 Oct. 2025
Rocks were being thrown in the melee, WLS reported.
—Cindy Von Quednow, CNN Money, 14 Oct. 2025
For example, a melee unit is ineffective against enemies above or below it.
—PC Magazine, 13 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for melee
Cite this Entry
“Melee.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/melee. Accessed 20 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
melee
noun
Share