Chaotic Meaning
/keɪˈɒtɪk/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjFilled with chaos.
adjExtremely disorganized or in disarray.
Sentence Examples
What a chaotic day.
It was a little chaotic.
Fadil was raised by a single mother in a chaotic household.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The classroom became totally ____ when the substitute teacher failed to keep order.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The scene after the large concert was very ____ and quite loud city.
Word Origin & History
From Late Latin chaoticus (“of or pertaining to the primordial state of the universe”), from Latin chaos (“chaos”) + -ticus (suffix forming adjectives from nouns); analysable as chaos + -otic. Doublet of gassy.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Treating of the Expanſum, or Inferiour Heav'n, he ſays that according to the Moſaick Phyſiology, the Heav'ns, generated of the Abyſſine, or Chaotick Waters, are divided only into two Orbs, call'd by the names of the Superiour and Inferiour Heav'ns […]"
— 1702 January–February, “VI. An Account of a Book, viz Edmundi Dickinsoni M.D. Physica vetus & vera, sive, Tractatus de Naturali veritate hexameri Mosaici. […] Londini 1702. in 4o.”, in Philosophical Transactions. Giving Some Account of the Present Undertakings, Studies, and Labours of the Ingenious, in Many Considerable Parts of the World, volume XXIII, number 277, London: Printed for S. Smith and B. Walford, printers to the Royal Society, […] , →OCLC, page 1088:
"Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver said Tuesday that the federal assault charges filed against her a day earlier related to a chaotic melee outside an Immigration Customs and Enforcement detention facility are “absurd.”"
— 2025 May 20, Shania Shelton and Holmes Lybrand, “Democratic congresswoman says federal charges in ICE facility scuffle are ‘absurd’”, in CNN:
"In theſe early and unrefined Ages, the jarring Parts of a certain chaotick Conſtitution ſupported their ſeveral Pretenſions by the Sword. Experience and Policy have ſince taught other Methods."
— 1756, [Edmund Burke], “A Vindication of Natural Society; or, A View of the Miseries and Evils Arising to Mankind from Every Species of Artificial Society. […]”, in Fugitive Pieces, on Various Subjects. […] In Two Volumes, volume II, Dublin: Printed for Peter Wilson, […], published 1762, →OCLC, page 60:
"Our intervals of repose were now very short; for at 12ʰ 50ᵐ a.m., March 16th, another rush drove irresistibly on the larboard quarter and stern, and forcing the ship ahead raised her up on the ice. A chaotic ruin followed; our poor and cherished court yard, its wall and arched doors, gallery, and well-trodden paths, were rent, and in some parts ploughed up like dust."
— 1838, [George] Back, chapter V, in Narrative of an Expedition in H.M.S. Terror, Undertaken with a View to Geographical Discovery on the Arctic Shores, in the Years 1836–7, London: John Murray, […], pages 279–280:
"Yes, there is death in this business of whaling—a speechlessly quick chaotic bundling of a man into Eternity."
— 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Chapel”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 40:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The classroom became totally ____ when the substitute teacher failed to keep order.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The scene after the large concert was very ____ and quite loud city.