as in circus
a place of uproar or confusion
the house has been a three-ring circus ever since the kids got back from summer camp
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Recent Examples of three-ring circus
The chords and harmonies of Williams' music sound similar to the poppy anthems of that cinematic three-ring circus, and the choreography team of Ashley Wallen and Jenny Griffin reunite with Gracey to contextualize Williams' worldwide hits with new dance numbers.
—
EW.com, 18 Oct. 2024
The household in the 1970s was routinely described as a three-ring circus filled with rowdy kids, lost pets and haggard servants who often quit in frustration, saying Ethel was difficult to work for.
—Valerie J. Nelson, Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2024
Democrats, who slammed the impeachment inquiry as a political stunt, described the Republican conference as a three-ring circus.
—Marianna Sotomayor, Leigh Ann Caldwell, Amy B Wang, Jacqueline Alemany, The Washington Post, Anchorage Daily News, 15 Sep. 2023
Life gets serious enough, after all—as does Facebook, what with the constant political brawling, and let's not even get started on the total three-ring circus Twitter has turned into lately.
—Jill Gleeson, Country Living, 17 July 2023
See All Example Sentences for three-ring circus
EW.com, 18 Oct. 2024
The household in the 1970s was routinely described as a three-ring circus filled with rowdy kids, lost pets and haggard servants who often quit in frustration, saying Ethel was difficult to work for.
—Valerie J. Nelson, Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2024
Democrats, who slammed the impeachment inquiry as a political stunt, described the Republican conference as a three-ring circus.
—Marianna Sotomayor, Leigh Ann Caldwell, Amy B Wang, Jacqueline Alemany, The Washington Post, Anchorage Daily News, 15 Sep. 2023
Life gets serious enough, after all—as does Facebook, what with the constant political brawling, and let's not even get started on the total three-ring circus Twitter has turned into lately.
—Jill Gleeson, Country Living, 17 July 2023
See All Example Sentences for three-ring circus
Recent Examples of Synonyms for three-ring circus
Noun
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For a few hours this morning, the three of them were comically sitting on the magic number of 7-2, which was like watching a pod of circus elephants trying unsuccessfully to stand on the same little pedestal in the ring.—
Guy Martin,
Forbes.com,
7 June 2025
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The circus performance will be on Friday, Aug. 1 at 5 p.m., with a band call at 3 p.m..—
Staff report,
Hartford Courant,
4 June 2025
Noun
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The madhouse of awards season and all its many, many controversies — not to mention an ongoing parade of natural and man-made disasters — has until now perhaps overshadowed some of the year’s lower-stakes joys.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
6 Mar. 2025
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But things move fast in the Goodison madhouse.—
Greg O'Keeffe,
The Athletic,
9 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Hand 103, Bethel, 102 ½. There was bedlam, Hand kids screaming and jumping and yelling and hugging each other.—
Lori Riley,
Hartford Courant,
4 June 2025
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Amid bedlam in the stands at Old Trafford, Maguire’s intense but stoic reaction to his winner against Lyon stood out.—
Laurie Whitwell,
New York Times,
1 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Three-ring circus.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/three-ring%20circus. Accessed 14 Jun. 2025.
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