chaotic

adjective

cha·​ot·​ic kā-ˈä-tik 

1

: marked by chaos or being in a state of chaos : completely confused or disordered

a chaotic political race

After he became famous, his life became even more chaotic.

They may look chaotic and barbaric, but scrums are a critical and strategic part of the game, and they unfold and escalate according to hockey's venerated, unwritten rules of engagement.

—David Fleming

To the uninitiated visitor, the seemingly chaotic energy of a typical Thai market may give the impression of a free-for-all, …

—Diane Ruengsom

2

mathematics : having outcomes that can vary widely due to extremely small changes in initial conditions

In other words, what comes out of the program's equations is extremely sensitive to what goes in. And that, as any mathematician would recognize, is one of the hallmarks of chaotic systems.

—Ingrid Wickelgren

A physical system—a weather system, say—is chaotic if a very slight change in initial conditions sends the system off on a very different course.

—Physics Today

chaotically

kā-ˈä-ti-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

a chaotically busy scene

Synonyms

• cluttered
• confused
• disarranged
• disarrayed
• disheveled
• dishevelled
• disordered
• disorderly
• higgledy-piggledy
• hugger-mugger
• jumbled
• littered
• messed
• messy
• muddled
• mussed
• mussy
• pell-mell
• rumpled
• sloppy
• topsy-turvy
• tousled
• tumbled
• unkempt
• untidy
• upside-down

Examples of chaotic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The little kids who, just earlier, were participating in a chaotic game of putt-putt golf began to weave in and out of the crowd, necks craned. —Levi Mandel, Condé Nast Traveler, 12 Apr. 2024

The lesson of these tales, relayed in the backyard between Stool Pigeon’s house and King and Ruby’s, is one of helpless interdependence in a world that is just too small and too chaotic for individual kingdoms. —Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2024

One attendee described the chaotic scene to Philadelphia ABC station WPVI. —Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 10 Apr. 2024

The Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into whether investors were misled during the chaotic period when Altman briefly left the company. —Elizabeth Dwoskin, Washington Post, 9 Apr. 2024

That debate was notably chaotic, with Mr. Trump refusing to follow the instructions of the moderator, Chris Wallace, and frequently talking over Mr. Biden. —Michael M. Grynbaum, New York Times, 9 Apr. 2024

For a more playful take, choose two or three complementary shades (different shades of pink work well here), and alternate them on different fingers, or, for something more chaotic but still considered, choose a spectrum of rainbow shades. —Georgia Day, Vogue, 7 Apr. 2024

Additionally, the snowy action sequences — including chaotic downhill skiing and slippery car chases on ice — are among the very best in Bond history. —Dennis Perkins, EW.com, 5 Apr. 2024

The New Providence of 1696 was a long way from becoming the world’s wickedest Republic of Pirates, its chaotic lanes home to such notorious figures as Benjamin Hornigold, Blackbeard, Calico Jack Rackham, Charles Vane, Mary Read and Anne Bonny. —Sean Kingsley, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1688, in the meaning defined at sense 1