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

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2
as in messy
lacking in order, neatness, and often cleanliness pell-mell piles of books everywhere in the professor's library

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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

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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

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
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 See All Example Sentences for pell-mell
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pell-mell
  1. hurried
  2. messy
  3. frantically
  4. hastily
  5. rushed
  6. chaotic
  7. wildly
  8. hurriedly
Adjective
  • Go in April, May, September, or October, when boat days are easier and the town feels less hurried.
    — Mikael Castro, Travel + Leisure, 15 Aug. 2026
  • Hours later, across the globe, after the Dodgers dispatched the San Diego Padres in a season-opening win – and after Mizuhara served as Ohtani’s interpreter in a hurried and rushed postgame media scrum – Hiltzik called ESPN again.
    — Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 28 July 2026
Definition of hurried
Adjective
  • Led by Sreeti Mukerji and shaped by the creative vision of Alia and Shaheen Bhatt, ‘Don’t Be Shy’ is a joyful, heartfelt celebration of friendship, love, and the beautifully messy journey of growing up.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 24 Aug. 2026
  • The real story is what happens to the other 20% — the cases that are messy, emotional, or high-stakes — when the routine volume stops eating up everyone’s day.
    — Rhett Power, Forbes.com, 23 Aug. 2026
Definition of messy
Adverb
  • Its heroines aren’t frantically networking at film festivals or plotting their next career moves.
    — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Stickers are stuck in the wrong spot, Trevor Etienne gets put on the board when it was meant to be his brother Travis, and owners look frantically for a Stefon Diggs or Keenan Allen sticker that doesn’t exist in the pack.
    — Bill Reinhard, New York Daily News, 16 Aug. 2026
Definition of frantically
Adverb
  • Cooper also blocked the administration from closing the venue for two years of construction because the plans for the project were adopted too hastily.
    — Bart Jansen, USA Today, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Year after year, the nominations often seem like they were hastily pulled together at the last minute after someone remembered there needed to be actual nominees in order for the show to exist.
    — Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of hastily
Adjective
  • The teen’s family has said this was a rushed judgment that did not involve a thorough enough investigation.
    — Sam Gillette, PEOPLE, 27 July 2026
  • 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
Definition of rushed
Adjective
  • The last time Harry Brook batted in a Test for England his performance was so chaotic, frenetic and, frankly, irresponsible that New Zealand’s players laughed at him.
    — Paul Newman, New York Times, 23 Aug. 2026
  • In terms of reaching frontline workers with the promises of AI, things are rather chaotic.
    — Joe McKendrick, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of chaotic
Adverb
  • Fly’s brand of rap, defined by spare, steely 808 beats and club shoutouts, was wildly popular, spawning nearly 50 mixtape volumes and many more songs since.
    — Stephen Deusner, SPIN, 25 Aug. 2026
  • That may still be the case in the coming weeks, but the second episode of HBO’s Lanterns makes for a fairly solid (if simple and straightforward) follow-up with some wildly entertaining moments.
    — Siddhant Adlakha, Vulture, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of wildly
Adverb
  • Smoke filled the inside of the shopping center as people hurriedly tried to leave, videos filmed at the scene show.
    — Kosta Gak, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2026
  • As the distance tracker on the homer climbed, Lucarelli hurriedly retreated to the main menu and restarted the game.
    — Stephen J. Nesbitt, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of hurriedly

Browse Nearby Words

pellets
pell-mell
pellucid
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Cite this Entry

“Pell-mell.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pell-mell. Accessed 28 Aug. 2026.

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