pandemonium

noun

pan·​de·​mo·​ni·​um ˌpan-də-ˈmō-nē-əm 

1

: a wild uproar (as because of anger or excitement in a crowd of people)

Pandemonium erupted in the courtroom when the verdict was announced.

The game is stopped on account of pandemonium: players and spectators are screaming and staggering around the court …

—Darcy Frey

also : a chaotic situation

It is obvious that pandemonium would exist at most uncontrolled airports if every pilot did not conscientiously follow the traffic pattern.

—Joseph W. Benkert

2

capitalized : the capital of Hell in Milton's Paradise Lost

3

capitalized : the infernal regions : hell

the demons of Pandemonium

Did you know?

When John Milton needed a name for the gathering place of all demons for Paradise Lost, he turned to the classics as any sensible 17th-century writer would. Pandæmonium, as the capital of Hell is known in the epic poem, combines the Greek prefix pan-, meaning “all,” with the Late Latin daemonium, meaning “evil spirit.” (Daemonium itself traces back to the far more innocuous Greek word daímōn, meaning “spirit” or “divine power.”) Over time, Pandæmonium (or Pandemonium) came to designate all of hell and was used as well for earthbound dens of wickedness and sin. By the late-18th century, the word implied a place or state of confusion or uproar, and from there, it didn’t take long for pandemonium to become associated with states of utter disorder and wildness.

Synonyms

• ado
• alarums and excursions
• ballyhoo
• blather
• bluster
• bobbery
• bother
• bustle
• clatter
• clutter [chiefly dialect]
• coil
• commotion
• corroboree [Australian]
• disturbance
• do [chiefly dialect]
• foofaraw
• fun
• furor
• furore
• fuss
• helter-skelter
• hoo-ha
• hoo-hah
• hoopla
• hubble-bubble
• hubbub
• hullabaloo
• hurly
• hurly-burly
• hurricane
• hurry
• hurry-scurry
• hurry-skurry
• kerfuffle [chiefly British]
• moil
• pother
• row
• ruckus
• ruction
• rumpus
• shindy
• splore [Scottish]
• squall
• stew
• stir
• storm
• to-do
• tumult
• turmoil
• uproar
• welter
• whirl
• williwaw
• zoo

Examples of pandemonium in a Sentence

Christmas morning at our house is always marked by pandemonium

a surrealist painting in which all the torments of Pandemonium are vividly depicted

Recent Examples on the Web

Man Utd and Tottenham on brink of face-off for Europa League title (CBS) Football is never done until it’s done — Manchester United’s ‘portrait of pandemonium’ against Lyon proved that — but there’s only minor jeopardy in predicting that the Europa League is headed for an all Premier League final. —Phil Hay, New York Times, 2 May 2025

While no person was seriously injured, the loud noise and ensuing pandemonium agitated the occupants of the nearby alligator farm. —Jeremy Drouin, Kansas City Star, 14 Apr. 2025

Resisting Liverpool and causing pandemonium in the process was almost fated. —Phil Hay, The Athletic, 13 Feb. 2025

There must have been something serendipitous about Game 2: Domi froze Ullmark – and the clock – while wearing a microphone for NHL Productions that recorded his reaction, not to mention all the pandemonium that broke out around him. —Jonas Siegel, New York Times, 23 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

pan- + Late Latin daemonium "evil spirit," borrowed from Greek daimónion "evil spirit," earlier "divine power, inferior divine being," derivative of daímōn "divinity, divine power, individual destiny" (with -ium probably to be read as Latin -ium or Greek -eion, suffixes of place) — more at demon

First Known Use

1667, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for pandemonium

• diazonium
• pelargonium
• testimonium
• carbonium
• harmonium
• meconium
• plutonium
• polonium
• stramonium
• zirconium
• conium

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!

Kids Definition

pandemonium

noun

pan·​de·​mo·​ni·​um

ˌpan-də-ˈmō-nē-əm

: a wild uproar : tumult

Etymology

from Pandemonium, name of the place of demons in Paradise Lost by John Milton, from Greek pan- "all, every, completely" and Greek daimon "evil spirit, demon"