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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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

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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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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

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
  • 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
  • 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
Definition of hurried
Adjective
  • The fan-favorite Green secured a career-defining victory, capitalizing on a chaotic finish involving top contenders like Jade Cargill, Tiffany Stratton, and Lash Legend.
    — Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026
  • These essentials, and so much more, have completely transformed my chaotic packing system into a seamless one.
    — Julia Morlino, Travel + Leisure, 1 Aug. 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
  • In 1938, a congressional committee launched an investigation of communist infiltration in Hollywood, even considering calling Shirley Temple as a witness; the idea inspired so much ridicule it was hastily dropped.
    — Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2026
  • 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
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
  • Each baby wore a collar with a chain and had a messy bed of straw.
    — Rachel Yoder, New Yorker, 2 Aug. 2026
  • The way the film gets to that epic crossover moment is a little messy — Peter’s intentions of trying to rehabilitate invading villains like Doc Ock (Alfred Molina) and the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) are noble but sadly naïve in a frustrating way.
    — Darren Franich, Entertainment Weekly, 1 Aug. 2026
Definition of messy
Adverb
  • After setting her wildly popular debut The Tiger's Wife in a Balkans suffused with myth and magic, the author turned in subsequent books to the Old West and a city redolent of New York.
    — Colin Dwyer, NPR, 4 Aug. 2026
  • This urban concentration creates hidden local impacts, including wildly uneven regional carbon emissions depending on whether the local grid relies on fossil fuels or green energy.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of wildly
Adverb
  • Bouncing hurriedly in my direction was a bright-eyed kid with a huge smile.
    — Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 27 July 2026
  • 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
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 8 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on pell-mell

Nglish: Translation of pell-mell for Spanish Speakers

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