1
as in hurried
acting or done with excessive or careless speed
when the theater doors opened, there was a pell-mell rush for the best seats
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2
as in chaotic
lacking in order, neatness, and often cleanliness
pell-mell piles of books everywhere in the professor's library
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1
as in frantically
in a confused and reckless manner
tossed stuff pell-mell into the dorm room
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2
as in hastily
with excessive or careless speed
ran pell-mell down the road to get help
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pell-mell
Andy Kroll, ProPublica, 18 Oct. 2025
The sight of Musk swinging a chainsaw onstage at a conservative conference captured the pell-mell approach, not to mention the brutality, of the billionaire’s plan to bring the federal government to heel.
—Andy Kroll, New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2025
What could slow the pell-mell stock market advance of artificial intelligence?
—Larry Light, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025
People ran pell-mell outside, sped away in cars with no clear destination, went to church, or just phoned the police or radio station to hyperventilate.
—Nicolas Rapold, airmail.news, 23 Nov. 2024
Abe and Mary are part Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara, part George and Martha, part the old vaudevillians George Burns and Gracie Allen, all running together pell-mell toward the Copacabana.
—Chris Jones, New York Daily News, 12 July 2024
Administration officials don’t see this situation as similar to October 2022, when the intelligence community saw a significant possibility Putin might use tactical nuclear weapons to avert a collapse of Russia’s front lines in Ukraine and prevent a pell-mell retreat.
—David Ignatius, Washington Post, 21 June 2024
Only a few of them stopped with remainder racing pell-mell through the intersection as approaching cars on Charles braked abruptly.
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 25 Apr. 2024
Ultimately, the more naturalistic second half — which has a realistic set with chairs and tables, delivered in a clunky black-out transition by intrusive stagehands — gets as sharp and loud as the pell-mell sounds-and-lights first half.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 12 Apr. 2024
Adverb
The sight of Musk swinging a chainsaw onstage at a conservative conference captured the pell-mell approach, not to mention the brutality, of the billionaire’s plan to bring the federal government to heel.
—Andy Kroll, ProPublica, 18 Oct. 2025
The sight of Musk swinging a chainsaw onstage at a conservative conference captured the pell-mell approach, not to mention the brutality, of the billionaire’s plan to bring the federal government to heel.
—Andy Kroll, New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2025
What could slow the pell-mell stock market advance of artificial intelligence?
—Larry Light, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025
People ran pell-mell outside, sped away in cars with no clear destination, went to church, or just phoned the police or radio station to hyperventilate.
—Nicolas Rapold, airmail.news, 23 Nov. 2024
Abe and Mary are part Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara, part George and Martha, part the old vaudevillians George Burns and Gracie Allen, all running together pell-mell toward the Copacabana.
—Chris Jones, New York Daily News, 12 July 2024
Administration officials don’t see this situation as similar to October 2022, when the intelligence community saw a significant possibility Putin might use tactical nuclear weapons to avert a collapse of Russia’s front lines in Ukraine and prevent a pell-mell retreat.
—David Ignatius, Washington Post, 21 June 2024
Only a few of them stopped with remainder racing pell-mell through the intersection as approaching cars on Charles braked abruptly.
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 25 Apr. 2024
Ultimately, the more naturalistic second half — which has a realistic set with chairs and tables, delivered in a clunky black-out transition by intrusive stagehands — gets as sharp and loud as the pell-mell sounds-and-lights first half.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 12 Apr. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pell-mell
Adjective
-
Then in the final seconds of the period, Merrimack turned the puck over in their own zone but Jack Galanek could not stuff his hurried shot home.—
Steve Conroy,
Boston Herald,
21 Mar. 2026
-
Pre-existing structures, supported by documentation and commercial logic, carry far more weight than hurried adjustments made after funds are already exposed.—
Ascend Agency,
New York Daily News,
11 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Set in 1953 after the titular dictator’s passing, the film revels in the chaotic, messy, bumbling power struggle that ensues among figures like Nikita Khrushchev (Steve Buscemi) and Georgy Malenkov (Jeffrey Tambor).—
Debby Wolfinsohn,
Entertainment Weekly,
13 Apr. 2026
-
The venue was the sprawling Serena Hotel, an oasis within what is already a bubble provided by Islamabad, a leafy city of broad boulevards that feels detached from the rest of Pakistan, an often chaotic country of 240 million people.—
Saeed Shah,
Time,
13 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
Then seconds later the controller frantically called for the fire truck to stop.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
10 Apr. 2026
-
In the hours after Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was shot to death inside the bedroom of his mountaintop home, an inner circle of people suspected of being involved in the assassination plot in South Florida and in Port-au-Prince were frantically trying to steer events in their favor.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
6 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
The inner layer, known as the Sarcophagus or Shelter Object, is a steel-and-concrete shell built hastily in 1986.—
Aman Tripathi,
Interesting Engineering,
15 Apr. 2026
-
When Janine hastily suggests amid her frustration that maybe the pair should break up, Gregory is clearly caught off guard.—
Katie Campione,
Deadline,
8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
As immigration officers arrested her six weeks ago, through tears and a rushed goodbye, Maria de Jesus Estrada Juarez had a request for her daughter.—
Mathew Miranda,
Sacbee.com,
6 Apr. 2026
-
Little emphasized the need to ease property taxes in a letter accompanying his signature but criticized Moyle’s approach as rushed and overly complex.—
Mark Dee
March 25,
Idaho Statesman,
25 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Wheatley isn’t a sudden-twitch mover and the tackling can get messy, but the size, awareness and ability to play deep, in the slot or around the box should keep him in the Day 2 conversation.—
Eddie Brown,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
17 Apr. 2026
-
A lot of the case seemed to come down to disorganization and messy paperwork.—
Emma Green,
New Yorker,
17 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
Still, both stocks have swung wildly, rising and falling by double-digit percentages in single sessions.—
Nicholas Gordon,
Fortune,
12 Apr. 2026
-
Quentin Tarantino’s outrageous revisionist Western is wildly over-the-top, combining the director’s penchant for gratuitous violence and sparkling dialogue with a story that’s pleasingly labyrinthine but nothing if not schlocky.—
Declan Gallagher,
Entertainment Weekly,
11 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
Crews were hurriedly pumping water from a dam in Cheboygan, Michigan, this week, even removing floodgates to relieve pressure.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
16 Apr. 2026
-
Guthrie joked before Hager somewhat hurriedly tossed to a commercial break.—
Brendan Morrow,
USA Today,
8 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pell-mell.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pell-mell. Accessed 20 Apr. 2026.
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