maelstrom

noun mael·strom \ ˈmāl-strəm , -ˌsträm \

Updated on: 25 May 2018

Definition of maelstrom

1 : a powerful often violent whirlpool sucking in objects within a given radius

tried to shoot the canoe across a stretch of treacherous maelstrom
—Harper's

2 : something resembling a maelstrom in turbulence

the maelstrom enveloping the country

a maelstrom of emotions

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Examples of maelstrom in a Sentence

She was caught in a maelstrom of emotions.
The ship was drawn into the maelstrom.

Recent Examples of maelstrom from the Web

Few could recall a maelstrom more powerful than the one that whipsawed Connecticut Tuesday.

— matthew ormseth, courant.com, "Connecticut Has A Deadly History With Tornadoes," 18 May 2018
For the next 45 minutes Freedia led her supple entourage of dancers and audience volunteers into the sort of gluteus maximus maelstrom that has made her a superstar.

— doug maccash, NOLA.com, "Big Freedia conducts a church choir at Jazz Fest 2018," 28 Apr. 2018
Our senior military will try hard to avoid the political maelstrom.

— james stavridis, Time, "Ret. Admiral: President Trump’s Actions Are Making Many Military Leaders Uncomfortable," 16 Apr. 2018
Finally, as Dave approaches the signal’s coordinates, he’s pulled into a cosmological maelstrom, zooming through space and time in a surreal, kaleidoscopic sequence.

— brian p. kelly, WSJ, "‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ at 50: A Quiet Film Still Makes a Big Bang," 6 Apr. 2018
Misleading statements about the domestic abuse scandal that felled staff secretary Rob Porter had dragged the administration into a maelstrom of chaos and contradictory public statements.

— the washington post, NOLA.com, "As a willing warrior for Trump, Sarah Huckabee Sanders struggles to maintain credibility," 5 May 2018
Amid a week of turmoil, those early-morning moments on the ball diamond may have been the only minutes of peace amid Washington’s maelstrom of chaos.

— chad pergram, Fox News, "Pruitt, Jackson, House Chaplin Conroy, Congress had its own 'Infinity War' last week," 29 Apr. 2018
Jake Heston Miller elevates this character from pawn to major figure in the swirling maelstrom of a plot.

— tom titus, latimes.com, "On Theater: ‘Love Never Dies’ is a mighty melodrama," 26 Apr. 2018
That is what is missing in today’s media, in today’s maelstrom of information.

— rochelle riley, Detroit Free Press, "Riley: Are we blaming Facebook for our naivete and lack of vigilance?," 22 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'maelstrom.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Maelstrom comes from an early Dutch proper noun that literally meant "turning stream." The original Maelstrom is a channel that has dangerous tidal currents located off the northwest coast of Norway. The word became popularized in the general vocabulary of English in reference to a powerful whirlpool, or something akin to one, in the 19th century. This was partly due to its use by writers such as Edgar Allan Poe and Jules Verne (whose writing was widely translated from French) in stories exaggerating the tempestuousness of the Norwegian current and transforming it into a whirling vortex.