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

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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
  • Sacramento State is planning its biggest homecoming celebration yet as the university begins its first football season in the Mid-American Conference, but this year's festivities come with a major change after a concert last season ended in chaos.
    — Steve Large, CBS News, 31 July 2026
  • Sometimes his approach is so left-of-center that whole lines feel arrhythmic, but there’s a sedative allure in the way his sweet melodies find stasis in the chaos.
    — Olivier Lafontant, Pitchfork, 31 July 2026
Definition of chaos
Noun
  • The killing sparked nationwide unrest, with cartel members erecting highway blockades and setting fire to vehicles and buildings across 20 Mexican states.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 31 July 2026
  • Haiti is on the State Department’s do not travel list — owing to such hazards as crime, kidnapping, terrorism and unrest.
    — Max Klaver, Miami Herald, 31 July 2026
Definition of unrest
Noun
  • During Friday’s sentencing hearing, Watson’s family implored Ruff to impose the maximum sentence, saying Sayers’ cruelty, lawlessness and hypocrisy were unforgivable.
    — Noelle Phillips, Denver Post, 25 July 2026
  • 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
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
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Cite this Entry

“Anarchy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/anarchy. Accessed 3 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of anarchy for Spanish Speakers

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