anarchy

noun

ˈa-nər-kē How to pronounce anarchy (audio)
Definition of anarchynext
as in chaos
a state in which there is widespread wrongdoing and disregard for rules and authority the anarchy that the country experienced after the dictator drained the treasury and fled the country

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of anarchy Just anarchy, all in the name of 8U baseball. — Zach Dean Outkick, FOXNews.com, 17 June 2026 Spielberg shifts tonal gears with practiced ease, a sense of awe going hand in hand with an ebullient comic anarchy. — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 10 June 2026 Knicks fans have been leaning into the joke, posting TikTok edits foreshadowing Gotham-like anarchy. — Rebecca Schneid, Time, 27 May 2026 The academic anarchy was touched off Thursday afternoon when operators of online education platform Canvas, used in K-12 schools and colleges across the globe, were forced to shut down after a hacker’s intrusion. — Griffin Eckstein, NBC news, 8 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for anarchy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for anarchy
  1. chaos
  2. unrest
  3. lawlessness
  4. turmoil
  5. misrule
Noun
  • The dinner in April devolved into chaos after authorities say Cole Allen opened fire inside the Washington Hilton hotel, where thousands of journalists and guests gathered for the annual celebration of the First Amendment.
    — Fritz Farrow, ABC News, 25 July 2026
  • Brentford’s Michael Kayode caused chaos with his long throw in the Premier League last season too, but that was nothing on what Huddersfield’s Max Murray appears to be capable of.
    — George Edwards, New York Times, 24 July 2026
Definition of chaos
Noun
  • Protesters have been calling for accountability after allegations entrance exams to esteemed medical schools had been leaked and sold, with the unrest led by a youth campaign known as the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).
    — Rhea Mogul, CNN Money, 25 July 2026
  • Los Angeles was the site of significant unrest following raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
    — Barry Svrluga, New York Times, 24 July 2026
Definition of unrest
Noun
  • But its ferocity led right-wing broadcasters and influencers to start talking about a new kind of urban lawlessness enabled by liberal social policies.
    — Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 10 July 2026
  • Our founders did not envision a nation with an open border and lawlessness.
    — Scott Singer, Sun Sentinel, 9 July 2026
Definition of lawlessness
Noun
  • So then this kind of social turmoil also with the economic turmoil, inflation was really, really high for a number of years in the '90s.
    — Tax Notes Staff, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026
  • First signs of turmoil emerged in July last year, when LuisaViaRoma revealed plans to streamline its business operations by shutting its unit and office in Milan.
    — Martino Carrera, Footwear News, 21 July 2026
Definition of turmoil
Noun
  • Expectations are now rising over the role the United States will play in helping Venezuela, which had already been laid low by decades of misrule.
    — Emma Bubola Jenna Russell Raj Saha Adam Liptak, New York Times, 27 June 2026
  • The engineer said decades of misrule have been hard on Iranians.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 28 Mar. 2026
Definition of misrule

Browse Nearby Words

anarchs
anarchy
anathema
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Anarchy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/anarchy. Accessed 27 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on anarchy

Nglish: Translation of anarchy for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of parochial

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

Why does English have so many silent letters?

Every Letter Is Silent, Sometimes: A-Z List of Examples
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 24

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
chain-question-mark
Missing Link Quiz July 2026 Five seconds to figure out the word that fits bot...
See All