Synonyms of pell-mell

pell-mell 1 of 2

adjective

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

• hurried
• rushed
• headlong
• impulsive
• hasty
• sudden
• rash
• precipitous
• reckless
• precipitate
• flying
• cursory
• overhasty
• helter-skelter
• makeshift
• rapid
• drive-by
• spontaneous
• swift
• quick
• abrupt
• rush
• gadarene
• impetuous
• madcap
• breathtaking
• breakneck
• impromptu
• impatient
• speedy
• slapdash
• headstrong
• heady
• unadvised
• hotheaded
• spur-of-the-moment
• horseback
• snap
• offhand
• off-the-cuff
• offhanded

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• deliberate
• unhurried
• calculated
• circumspect
• measured
• prolonged
• calculating
• unrushed
• extended
• foresighted
• long-term
• tentative
• slow
• leisurely
• faltering
• hesitant
• forethoughtful
• hesitating
• drawn-out
• laggard
• dallying
• poky
• dawdling
• shilly-shallying

2

as in messy

lacking in order, neatness, and often cleanliness

pell-mell piles of books everywhere in the professor's library

Synonyms & Similar Words

• messy
• chaotic
• littered
• jumbled
• sloppy
• cluttered
• confused
• tumbled
• filthy
• disordered
• muddled
• tangled
• disorderly
• dirty
• shaggy
• disarrayed
• rumpled
• messed
• untidy
• disarranged
• disheveled
• out of joint
• higgledy-piggledy
• unkempt
• tousled
• topsy-turvy
• mussy
• mussed
• wrinkled
• at sixes and sevens
• stained
• hugger-mugger
• upside-down
• blackened
• knotted
• nasty
• grimy
• slovenly
• draggled
• squalid
• dingy
• spotted
• smudged
• uncombed
• soiled
• contaminated
• frowsy
• begrimed
• sullied
• foul
• bedraggled
• mucky
• grubby
• polluted
• unclean
• uncleanly
• grungy
• slatternly
• cruddy
• tainted
• grotty
• snarled
• dowdy
• sloven
• sordid
• adulterated
• bemired
• befouled
• besmirched
• neglected
• shabby
• negligent
• defiled
• neglectful
• seedy
• sleazy

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• orderly
• organized
• well-ordered
• trim
• tidy
• systematic
• uncluttered
• neat
• crisp
• shipshape
• sparkling
• ordered
• cleaned
• clean
• methodical
• unsullied
• spick-and-span
• cleanly
• immaculate
• regular
• stainless
• antiseptic
• spotless
• snug
• careful
• systematized
• hygienic
• unsoiled
• tidied
• meticulous
• kempt
• bandbox
• fastidious
• neatened
• fussy
• finicky
• combed
• manicured
• wholesome
• groomed
• unpolluted
• untainted
• undefiled
• well-groomed
• taintless

pell-mell

2 of 2

adverb

ˌpel-ˈmel 

1

as in frantically

in a confused and reckless manner

tossed stuff pell-mell into the dorm room

Synonyms & Similar Words

• frantically
• wildly
• wild
• uncontrollably
• desperately
• amok
• frenziedly
• frenetically
• hectically
• madly
• harum-scarum
• berserk
• helter-skelter
• heedlessly
• berserkly
• recklessly
• confusedly
• crazily
• agitatedly
• tumultuously
• haphazardly
• feverishly
• riotously
• haphazard
• haywire
• turbulently
• aimlessly
• skittishly
• topsy-turvy
• wantonly
• chaotically
• hit or miss
• hotheadedly

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• calmly
• coolly
• serenely
• placidly
• peacefully
• imperturbably
• unconcernedly
• composedly
• meekly
• orderly
• mildly
• tamely
• systematically
• passively
• collectedly
• self-composedly
• methodically
• self-possessedly

2

as in hastily

with excessive or careless speed

ran pell-mell down the road to get help

Synonyms & Similar Words

• hastily
• hurriedly
• impulsively
• precipitately
• headlong
• precipitously
• rashly
• hotfoot
• cursorily
• automatically
• on the spur of the moment
• impatiently
• impetuously
• recklessly
• abruptly
• headfirst
• haphazardly
• spontaneously
• headily
• suddenly
• thoughtlessly
• glancingly
• impromptu
• hotheadedly
• offhandedly
• offhand

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• deliberately
• circumspectly
• designedly
• slowly
• leisurely
• tentatively
• haltingly
• studiedly
• hesitantly
• hesitatingly
• calculatingly
• falteringly

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of pell-mell

Adverb

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

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