welter

1 of 3

verb

wel·​ter ˈwel-tər 

weltered; weltering ˈwel-t(ə-)riŋ  ; welters

intransitive verb

1

a

: writhe, toss

also : wallow

b

: to rise and fall or toss about in or with waves

2

: to become deeply sunk, soaked, or involved

3

: to be in turmoil

welter

2 of 3

noun (1)

1

: a state of wild disorder : turmoil

2

: a chaotic mass or jumble

a bewildering welter of data

welter

3 of 3

noun (2)

: welterweight

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The History of Welter

Welter can be used both as a noun (meaning "turmoil" or "chaos") and a verb. The verb is the older of the two; it has been part of English since at least the 1300s, while the earliest uses of the noun date from the late 1590s. Both noun and verb have roots related to Dutch and Germanic terms meaning "to roll," and both have found a place in historical English literature. The verb helps demonstrate extreme despair in the early Arthurian legend Morte Arthure ("He welterys, he wristeles, he wrynges hys handes!"), and in 1837 Thomas Carlyle used the noun in The French Revolution ("I leave the whole business in a frightful welter: … not one of them understands anything of government").

Synonyms

Noun (1)

• 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
• pandemonium
• pother
• row
• ruckus
• ruction
• rumpus
• shindy
• splore [Scottish]
• squall
• stew
• stir
• storm
• to-do
• tumult
• turmoil
• uproar
• whirl
• williwaw
• zoo

Examples of welter in a Sentence

Noun (1)

there was a welter of pushing and shoving as people rushed to grab the best seats for the outdoor concert

a welter of junk in the closet, most of which needed to be thrown out

the claim that a troop withdrawal would plunge the country into a welter of anarchy and endless civil war

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Adding to the timeliness of this welter of Weill is the composer’s reputation for political courage. —Alex Ross, New Yorker, 14 Apr. 2025

If Congress set out to further expand health care now, for example, the Brookings Institution, Harvard University, and a welter of other think tanks and universities would churn out policy papers and ideas. —Jason Furman, Foreign Affairs, 21 June 2022

Frank Taylor, the longtime San Jose redevelopment director who died this month at 87, lived and reigned through a welter of contradictions. —Scott Herhold, Mercury News, 27 Mar. 2025

For everything else, his recollection is a sometimes overwhelming welter. —Han Ong, The New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English welteren, weltryn "to turn over, tumble, writhe, take unrestrained pleasure (in)," frequentative derivative of welten "to topple, overturn, fall over," by-form (perhaps from a Germanic weak verb *waltjan-) of walten "to turn over, upend, be overturned, cast, throw, surge," going back to Old English -wæltan (in gewæltan "to roll"), going back to a Germanic verbal base *walt-, *welt- "roll," found in a variety of attested formations (as Old English awyltan "to roll away," unwealt "steady," Middle High German walzen "to roll over," Old Icelandic velta [strong verb, intransitive] "to roll, roll over," velta [transitive] "to set rolling," Gothic waltjan "to surge against [of waves]," uswaltjan "to overturn"), going back to Indo-European *u̯el-d-, extended form of *u̯el(H)- "roll," whence, with various vowel grades and stem formations, Old Irish fillid "(s/he) bends, turns back" (< *u̯el-n-), Old Church Slavic valiti sę "to roll (intransitive)," Lithuanian veliù, vélti "to full (cloth), roll," Greek eiléō, eileîn "wind, turn round, roll up" (< *u̯el-né-), íllō, íllein in same sense (< *u̯i-u̯l-ō), Armenian glem "to roll"

Note: The Middle English verb is paralleled by Middle Dutch welteren and Middle Low German weltern, which Oxford English Dictionary, first edition, regards as the source of the English word. — Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2. Auflage (Wiesbaden, 2001), enters two etyma, *u̯el- "to turn, roll" (drehen, rollen) and *u̯elH- "to roll, seethe" (wälzen, wallen), presumably on the grounds that Lithuanian vélti, with acute intonation, would suggest a laryngeal, while there is no suggestion of a laryngeal in Greek eiléō, etc. For present purposes, etyma with the meaning "seethe, bubble" are treated separately, under well entry 2. Also treated under *u̯el- in the Lexikon are verbs showing an extension with a semi-vowel, *u̯el-u̯-, which are covered here at wallow entry 1. Additionally, there are stems ending in a velar, *u̯el-k-/*u̯el-gh- "to roll"; these are covered here at walk entry 1. All of these elements, as well as many nominal formations, are treated as extensions of a single root *u̯el- in J. Pokorny, Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch.

Noun (1)

derivative of welter entry 1

Noun (2)

by shortening

First Known Use

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun (1)

1596, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

1900, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for welter

• belter
• melter
• shelter
• skelter
• smelter
• spelter

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Kids Definition

welter

1 of 2 verb

wel·​ter ˈwel-tər 

weltered; weltering -t(ə-)riŋ 

1

: to twist or roll one's body about

2

: to rise and fall or toss about in or with waves

3

: to become deeply sunk or bogged down

weltered in misery

welter

2 of 2 noun

1

: a state of wild confusion

2

: a confused jumble

a welter of information