Synonyms of mayhem

mayhem

noun

as in violence

actions that hurt people and destroy things; a scene or situation that involves a lot of violence

Movies seem to be filled with murder and mayhem these days.

a criminal who escaped from prison and caused mayhem

Related Words

• violence
• brutality
• injury
• terror
• riot
• outrage
• mutilation
• damage
• attack
• crippling
• maiming
• harm
• savagery
• barbarity
• assault
• hurt
• rampage
• threat
• foul play
• frenzy
• rage
• impairment
• shock
• upheaval
• revolt
• outbreak
• turbulence
• detriment
• force
• fury
• thrashing
• onslaught
• smashing
• pummeling
• clubbing
• whipping
• mauling
• tumult
• thumping
• bashing
• pounding
• whaling
• flogging
• beating
• hammering
• buffeting
• rupture
• paddling
• drubbing
• paroxysm
• battery
• battering
• bludgeoning
• uproar
• licking
• pelting
• belting
• bullying
• lacing
• batting
• storm
• tromping
• walloping
• bulldozing
• cudgeling
• socking
• pommeling
• browbeating
• hectoring
• strong-arming

Dissimilar Words

• pacifism
• nonviolence
• pacificism

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of mayhem

The lack of communication from the ship’s captain and crew members quickly resulted in mayhem among the more than 4,000 passengers and crew members trying to evacuate. — Caroline Blair, PEOPLE, 15 July 2026

Yet the franchise, for all its mayhem, didn’t run on belligerence, or at least channelled its aggression in a disarming way. — Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 13 July 2026

In our latest Set a VIBE edition, our June 2026 cover star runs down the songs that send his audience into full mosh pit mayhem. — Christine Imarenezor, VIBE.com, 13 July 2026

And there’s mayhem, writ small, in the unpredictable trajectories of a child and a ball. — Susan Tallman, The Atlantic, 11 July 2026

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