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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in chaotic
lacking in order, neatness, and often cleanliness
pell-mell piles of books everywhere in the professor's library
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in frantically
in a confused and reckless manner
tossed stuff pell-mell into the dorm room
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in hastily
with excessive or careless speed
ran pell-mell down the road to get help
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Ministry is not nearly as proficient as Chad Stahelski’s John Wick 4 or Matthias Schweighöfer’s Army of Thieves, but the pell-mell combat scenes are consistently cartoonish.
—Armond White, National Review, 19 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
Ministry is not nearly as proficient as Chad Stahelski’s John Wick 4 or Matthias Schweighöfer’s Army of Thieves, but the pell-mell combat scenes are consistently cartoonish.
—Armond White, National Review, 19 Apr. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pell-mell
Adjective
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Elsewhere, the details lifted from the book suffer in translation – Branagh’s Victor is appropriately arrogant but not adequately tortured; De Niro’s Monster is sensitive and intuitive, but drowns in the film’s hurried, hollow second half.—
Rory Doherty,
Vulture,
20 Oct. 2025
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Carter had to make a hurried Middle East trip – including a speech to the Knesset – before the two nations formally signed a treaty some six months hence.—
Carl Leubsdorf,
Mercury News,
15 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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San Diego’s chaotic shift in city trash service has begun to stabilize, with more customers signing up for new bins and more of the roughly 19,000 property owners who lost city service managing to strike deals with private haulers.—
David Garrick,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
19 Oct. 2025
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Her other grands live full, busy and chaotic lives.—
Abigail Van Buren,
Boston Herald,
19 Oct. 2025
Adverb
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Egyptian officials are frantically searching for an ancient limestone painting taken from an ancient tomb — the latest in a series of high-profile artifact thefts.—
Andrea Margolis,
FOXNews.com,
17 Oct. 2025
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To plug the gaps, faculty have been frantically applying for nonfederal sources of money.—
Katherine J. Wu,
The Atlantic,
16 Oct. 2025
Adverb
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The revelation that the tattoo had been hastily covered up is just the latest bizarre twist that the high-stakes Senate race had taken in just the past 10 days.—
Preston Fore,
Fortune,
23 Oct. 2025
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On July 7, 1971, Courson and a few others hastily buried Morrison in a place he was said to have loved, Père Lachaise, before going public.—
David Kushner,
Rolling Stone,
20 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Our poor Toby, always so stressed, always so rushed.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
10 Oct. 2025
-
These alternatives can often provide a richer, less rushed experience than a whirlwind day trip to Paris.—
David Nikel,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Tallying the number of Americans detained by immigration agents is inherently messy and incomplete.—
Nicole Foy,
ProPublica,
18 Oct. 2025
-
If a mess does happen, clean up spills or messy bakes early so that grime and grease don’t build up.—
Daley Quinn,
Southern Living,
18 Oct. 2025
Adverb
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What Pete Alonso wants and what Pete Alonso gets have already proven to be wildly different once before.—
Jackson Roberts,
MSNBC Newsweek,
22 Oct. 2025
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The film’s postscript points out that, despite the label’s extreme skepticism, Nebraska went on to become wildly successful.—
Seija Rankin,
HollywoodReporter,
22 Oct. 2025
Adverb
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But as rumors swirled that the gang was on its way to launch another assault, merchants in the market could be seen hurriedly packing their goods.—
Ychmuth Corneille,
Miami Herald,
21 Sep. 2025
-
Book influencers and everyday readers lined up hurriedly to take photos with Aster and get their manuscripts signed.—
Clare Mulroy,
USA Today,
12 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pell-mell.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pell-mell. Accessed 26 Oct. 2025.
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