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
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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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
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Recent Examples of pell-mell
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
Administration officials don’t see this situation as similar to October 2022, when the intelligence community saw a significant possibility Putin might use tactical nuclear weapons to avert a collapse of Russia’s front lines in Ukraine and prevent a pell-mell retreat.
—David Ignatius, Washington Post, 21 June 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
Ministry is not nearly as proficient as Chad Stahelski’s John Wick 4 or Matthias Schweighöfer’s Army of Thieves, but the pell-mell combat scenes are consistently cartoonish.
—Armond White, National Review, 19 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
America saw a pell-mell downsizing of gas-guzzling vehicles and a simultaneous ramping up of imports of fuel-efficient Japanese cars.
—Jim Krane, Fortune, 12 Oct. 2023
Adverb
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
Administration officials don’t see this situation as similar to October 2022, when the intelligence community saw a significant possibility Putin might use tactical nuclear weapons to avert a collapse of Russia’s front lines in Ukraine and prevent a pell-mell retreat.
—David Ignatius, Washington Post, 21 June 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
Ministry is not nearly as proficient as Chad Stahelski’s John Wick 4 or Matthias Schweighöfer’s Army of Thieves, but the pell-mell combat scenes are consistently cartoonish.
—Armond White, National Review, 19 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
America saw a pell-mell downsizing of gas-guzzling vehicles and a simultaneous ramping up of imports of fuel-efficient Japanese cars.
—Jim Krane, Fortune, 12 Oct. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pell-mell
Adjective
-
Some sequences feel hurried, some satirical dialogue is a little too on the nose and a special effect around the climax lacks the polish of the production design elsewhere.—
Leila Latif,
IndieWire,
5 Sep. 2025
-
Additionally, hurried or reactive infrastructure development may expose the investor to significant foreign asset reporting and tax burdens (NCTI, for example) that could have been mitigated if a multi-disciplinary framework had been considered.—
Priya Prakash Royal Esq. LL.M. MBA AEP TEP,
Forbes.com,
1 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
This is a young and talented group with tremendous upside under a defensive coordinator who thrives off chaotic defensive lines.—
Jason Lloyd,
New York Times,
8 Sep. 2025
-
But everything about this first half offensively — save for one TD pass to Sutton — has felt unorganized and ineffective and chaotic.—
Joe Nguyen,
Denver Post,
7 Sep. 2025
Adverb
-
Footage from the rescue mission shared by Michigan State Police on X shows the woman frantically waving towards the helicopter above her while lost amongst the trees.—
Latoya Gayle,
PEOPLE,
8 Sep. 2025
-
Dexter begins frantically searching the paperwork for something that could point him toward the eight-digit vault code that could grant him freedom.—
Nick Caruso,
TVLine,
5 Sep. 2025
Adverb
-
Instead of being judged for the killing of an Arab man, Meursault is ultimately blamed for showing little emotion at the recent funerals for his late mother and hastily starting a relationship with Marie Cardona (Rebecca Marder).—
Elsa Keslassy,
Variety,
2 Sep. 2025
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Johnson appointed 11 of the 21 board members — including a member hastily named to fill a vacancy seemingly just for this vote — yet three of his appointees voted in opposition to his wishes.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
In her post, the 27-year-old shares how a rushed layover and a tight schedule turned a simple flight connection into an emotional ordeal.—
Ashley Vega,
People.com,
23 Aug. 2025
-
However, concerns have been raised by industry stakeholders about a rushed and opaque consultation process, with some fearing prior targets will be watered down.—
Rhonda Richford,
Footwear News,
3 Sep. 2019
Adjective
-
Depending on how things shake out in court, representation could get messy for west Charlotte’s City Council District 3.—
Nick Sullivan,
Charlotte Observer,
6 Sep. 2025
-
And that the wig was messy, but cute.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
6 Sep. 2025
Adverb
-
At the same time, everything from mini-bars to a beer at what were once cheap lobby bars has gotten wildly overpriced, especially on the Strip.—
Larry Olmsted,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025
-
Something might feel wildly familiar about episode 5 of FX’s Alien prequel.—
Lynette Rice,
Deadline,
2 Sep. 2025
Adverb
-
Lowell jumped on the bandwagon and hurriedly so, bankrolling and putting himself in charge of an expedition to Arizona territory to set up a telescope ahead of Mars nearing the Earth in 1894.—
Maren Longbella,
Boston Herald,
5 Sep. 2025
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Another photo shows Brown looking back while hurriedly carrying two bags through airport security.—
Bryan Alexander,
USA Today,
1 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pell-mell.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pell-mell. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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