Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
dictionary thesaurus

Thesaurus

pell-mell

adjective

Synonyms and Antonyms of pell-mell

1 acting or done with excessive or careless speed
  • When the theater doors opened, there was a pell-mell rush for the best seats.
Synonyms of pell-mell

cursory, flying, hasty, headlong, helter-skelter, hurried, overhasty, precipitate, precipitous, rash, rushed
Words Related to pell-mell

breakneck, breathtaking

headstrong, heady, hotheaded, impatient, impetuous, impulsive, madcap, reckless, unadvised

quick, rapid, speedy, swift

horseback, impromptu, makeshift, offhand, offhanded, off-the-cuff, rush, slapdash, snap, spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment

abrupt, sudden
Near Antonyms of pell-mell

calculated, calculating, measured

circumspect, foresighted, forethoughtful

drawn-out, extended, long-term, prolonged

faltering, hesitant, hesitating, tentative

dallying, dawdling, laggard, leisurely, poky (or pokey), shilly-shallying, slow
Antonyms of pell-mell

deliberate, unhurried, unrushed
2 lacking in order, neatness, and often cleanliness
  • pell-mell piles of books everywhere in the professor's library
Synonyms of pell-mell

chaotic, cluttered, confused, disarranged, disarrayed, disheveled (or dishevelled), disordered, disorderly, higgledy-piggledy, hugger-mugger, jumbled, littered, messed, messy, muddled, mussed, mussy, rumpled, sloppy, topsy-turvy, tousled, tumbled, unkempt, untidy, upside-down
Words Related to pell-mell

bedraggled, befouled, begrimed, bemired, besmirched, blackened, cruddy, dingy, dirty, draggled, filthy, foul, grimy, grubby, grungy, mucky, nasty, smudged, soiled, spotted, squalid, stained, sullied, unclean, uncleanly

dowdy, frowsy (or frowzy), shaggy, slatternly, sloven, slovenly
Phrases Synonymous with pell-mell

at sixes and sevens, out of joint
Near Antonyms of pell-mell

antiseptic, clean, cleaned, cleanly, hygienic, immaculate, sparkling, spick-and-span (or spic-and-span), spotless, stainless, unsoiled, unsullied

methodical (also methodic), regular, systematic, systematized

careful, fastidious, finicky, fussy, meticulous

combed, groomed, manicured, well-groomed

taintless, undefiled, unpolluted, untainted, wholesome
Antonyms of pell-mell

crisp, neat, neatened, ordered, orderly, organized, shipshape, snug, tidied, tidy, trim, uncluttered, well-ordered

pell-mell

adverb

Synonyms and Antonyms of pell-mell

1 in a confused and reckless manner
  • My roommate tossed stuff pell-mell into the dorm room.
Synonyms of pell-mell

amok (or amuck), berserk, berserkly, frantically, frenetically, frenziedly, harum-scarum, hectically, helter-skelter, madly, wild, wildly
Words Related to pell-mell

agitatedly, confusedly, crazily, desperately, feverishly, haywire, skittishly, uncontrollably

heedlessly, hotheadedly, recklessly, wantonly

chaotically, riotously, tumultuously, turbulently

aimlessly, haphazard, haphazardly, hit-or-miss, topsy-turvy
Near Antonyms of pell-mell

calmly, collectedly, composedly, coolly (also cooly), imperturbably, peacefully, placidly, self-composedly, self-possessedly, serenely, unconcernedly

meekly, mildly, passively, tamely

methodically, orderly, systematically
2 with excessive or careless speed
  • ran pell-mell down the road to get help
Synonyms of pell-mell

cursorily, hastily, headlong, hotfoot, hurriedly, precipitately, precipitously, rashly
Words Related to pell-mell

headfirst, headily, hotheadedly, impatiently, impetuously, impulsively, recklessly, thoughtlessly

automatically, glancingly, haphazardly

impromptu, spontaneously

abruptly, suddenly

offhand, offhandedly
Phrases Synonymous with pell-mell

on the spur of the moment
Near Antonyms of pell-mell

calculatingly, circumspectly, designedly

falteringly, haltingly, hesitantly, hesitatingly, tentatively

leisurely, slowly
Antonyms of pell-mell

deliberately, studiedly

Learn More about pell-mell

  1. See words that rhyme with pell-mell Dictionary: Definition of pell-mell Spanish Central: Translation of pell-mell Nglish: Translation of pell-mell for Spanish speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up pell-mell? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games