pandemonium
noun
Darcy FreyJoseph W. Benkert 
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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.
Examples of pandemonium in a Sentence
Mitch Moxley, Rolling Stone, 27 Sep. 2025
Whether the pickle pandemonium is a fad or not, pickles are delicious – and my chicken salad celebrates them in all their bold, sour, crunchy glory.
—The Washington Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Sep. 2025
Martha Edelheit reimagines Gustave Courbet’s studio as a pandemonium of female bodies spilling across beds and fields.
—Jerry Saltz, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2025
But amid the pandemonium caused by Oprah's arrival and exit (plus the excitement over front row guests Gayle King, Whoopi Goldberg, Lizzo, Adam Lambert and more), Christian Siriano turned out a collection with some bright spots, both literally and figuratively.
—Anika Reed, USA Today, 18 Sep. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Pandemonium.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pandemonium. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.
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