pell-mell 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of pell-mellnext
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

Relevance

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

pell-mell

2 of 2

adverb

ˌpel-ˈmel How to pronounce pell-mell (audio)
1
as in frantically
in a confused and reckless manner tossed stuff pell-mell into the dorm room

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in hastily
with excessive or careless speed ran pell-mell down the road to get help

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 pell-mell
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 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 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
  1. hurried
  2. chaotic
  3. frantically
  4. hastily
  5. rushed
  6. messy
  7. wildly
  8. hurriedly
Adjective
  • That hurried buildup led to an enormous industrial overhang, and, in California’s San Francisco Bay and elsewhere, a sad legacy of polluted and abandoned waterfront.
    — Craig Hooper, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026
  • But for some reason the powers that be have decreed artificial intelligence a civilizational imperative, requiring the hurried construction of swarms of data centers, on Earth and in space.
    — Mark Gongloff, Mercury News, 24 June 2026
Definition of hurried
Adjective
  • The hub of the spaceship was too crowded and chaotic for communication, so Frank Kuligowski motioned his pal to the peace of a nearby corridor.
    — Marc Ramirez, USA Today, 26 July 2026
  • The first day used to be so chaotic and humorous in the old days, with players not knowing how to put on helmets let alone figure out shoulder pads and struggling in line drills.
    — Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 26 July 2026
Definition of chaotic
Adverb
  • Fox recorded video of Stout leaving the area calmly after the fire started among others frantically getting away from the fast-spreading wildfire, Noel told the judge.
    — Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 24 July 2026
  • Baela isn’t sleeping or eating and is frantically seeking redemption after blaming herself for Jace’s death.
    — Brian Grubb, Vulture, 20 July 2026
Definition of frantically
Adverb
  • However, companies that hastily replaced human judgment with AI are now facing the cost of rehiring, learning that AI is a task replacer, not a complete human substitute, requiring careful integration and supervision.
    — John Werner, Forbes.com, 17 July 2026
  • Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation want the state and feds to confirm in federal court that the controversial immigration detention center hastily erected in the Everglades has permanently closed and will not reopen.
    — Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 16 July 2026
Definition of hastily
Adjective
  • The rushed and botched release of Apple Intelligence made clear that Apple's AI strategy wasn't fully fleshed out.
    — Kevin Stankiewicz,Zev Fima, CNBC, 10 July 2026
  • That said, if conversations feel rushed, defensive or unusually loaded, don’t hesitate to take a step back and catch your breath.
    — Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 9 July 2026
Definition of rushed
Adjective
  • Whether that promise survives contact with the messy, unsupervised way people actually use chatbots — typing symptoms into a phone in the middle of the night, hoping for reassurance rather than a referral — is a separate question.
    — Jesse Pines, Forbes.com, 26 July 2026
  • After a messy eight minutes, the remaining corn dog sticks and leftover food were tallied up for each contestant.
    — Camila Pedrosa, Sacbee.com, 26 July 2026
Definition of messy
Adverb
  • Tolbert threw wildly to second base, and that allowed a run to score.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 22 July 2026
  • While Prince George is following his father by going to Eton College, Jobson told the Daily Mail that the circumstances are wildly different.
    — Stephanie Petit, PEOPLE, 21 July 2026
Definition of wildly
Adverb
  • The final vehicles before the arrival of the race convoy are hurriedly rushed off-course, officials in dark blue polo shirts whistling them through.
    — Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 20 July 2026
  • Mediators of the deal, led by Pakistan and Qatar, will almost certainly now be hurriedly trying to get the agreement back on the rails.
    — Ivana Kottasová, CNN Money, 8 July 2026
Definition of hurriedly

Browse Nearby Words

pellets
pell-mell
pellucid
See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

“Pell-mell.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pell-mell. Accessed 29 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on pell-mell

Nglish: Translation of pell-mell 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 inveigle

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

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?

Your vs. You're: How to Use Them Correctly
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

The Words of the Week - Jul 24

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

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
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