Meanings
plural disorders · alternative obsolete disordre
- countableuncountableAbsence of order; state of not being arranged in an orderly manner.
After playing the children left the room in disorder.
1 more example
It was a household in permanent and benevolent disorder, pervaded by the gentle thrill of religious persecution.
1986, John le Carré, A Perfect SpySynonyms: chaos
- countableuncountableA disturbance of civic peace or of public order.
The class was thrown into disorder when the teacher left the room
2 more examples
The army tried to prevent disorder when claims the elections had been rigged grew stronger.
The police isn't there to create disorder; the policeman is there preserve disorder.
1997, Jules Witcover, quoting Richard J. Daley, The Year the Dream Died: Revisiting 1968 in America, New York: Warner Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 353 - countablemedicineA physical or mental malfunction.
Bulimia is an eating disorder.
2 more examples
Near-synonyms: disease, illness (both often synonymous)
A very rare polymorphism in the prion protein gene recently has been identified that appears to protect against prion disease; this finding, in addition to providing greater understanding of the prionlike mechanisms of neurodegenerative disorders, might lead to potential treatments.
2015 December 21, Michael D. Geschwind, “Prion Diseases”, in Continuum (Minneap Minn), →DOI
present singular third person disorders · participle present disordering · participle past disordered · past disordered · alternative obsolete disordre
- transitiveTo throw into a state of disorder.
- transitiveTo knock out of order or sequence.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAbsence of order; state of not being arranged in an orderly manner.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna physical condition in which there is a disturbance of normal functioning
nouna condition in which things are not in their expected places
verbdisturb in mind or make uneasy or cause to be worried or alarmed
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinōrdō
- Old Frenchdesordre
- Middle Frenchdesordre
- Englishdisorder
Borrowed from Middle French desordre (modern French désordre), from Old French desordre, from des- + ordre; by surface analysis, dis- + order (<< Latin ōrdō). Compare typologically Russian непоря́док (neporjádok), беспоря́док (besporjádok), неуря́дица (neurjádica) (akin to ряд (rjad), поря́док (porjádok)).
More words from Middle French, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἀταξία, τύρβη
- ἀταξία (ataxía)absence of order
- τύρβη (túrbē)disturbance of civic order or of public order
Arabic اِخْتِلال, اِضْطِراب
- اِخْتِلال (iḵtilāl)absence of order
- اِضْطِراب (iḍṭirāb)absence of order
- اِضْطِرَاب (iḍṭirāb)physical or psychical malfunction
Bulgarian безпорядък, безредици
- безпорядък (bezporjadăk)absence of order
- безредици (bezredici)disturbance of civic order or of public order
Catalan desordre, trastorn
- desordreabsence of order
- trastornphysical or psychical malfunction
Chinese Mandarin 混亂 /混乱, 紊亂 /紊乱
- 混亂 /混乱 (hùnluàn)absence of order
- 紊亂 /紊乱 (wěnluàn, wènluàn)absence of order
Czech nepořádek, porucha
- nepořádekabsence of order
- poruchaphysical or psychical malfunction
Danish uorden, forstyrrelse
- uordenabsence of order
- forstyrrelsephysical or psychical malfunction
Dutch stoornis
- stoornisphysical or psychical malfunction
Esperanto malordo, perturbo
- malordoabsence of order
- perturbophysical or psychical malfunction
- obstrukcophysical or psychical malfunction
Finnish epäjärjestys, levottomuus
- epäjärjestysabsence of order
- levottomuusdisturbance of civic order or of public order
- häiriöphysical or psychical malfunction
French désordre, trouble
- désordreabsence of order
- troubledisturbance of civic order or of public order
- troublephysical or psychical malfunction
- désordrephysical or psychical malfunction
German Unordnung, Unruhen
- Unordnungabsence of order
- Unruhendisturbance of civic order or of public order
- Störungphysical or psychical malfunction
Greek αταξία, ταραχή
- αταξία (ataxía)absence of order
- ταραχή (tarachí)absence of order
- αναταραχή (anatarachí)disturbance of civic order or of public order
- διαταραχή (diatarachí)physical or psychical malfunction
Hebrew אי־סדר
- אי־סדר (y-seder)absence of order
Hindi अव्यवस्था, अस्त-व्यस्त
- अव्यवस्था (avyavasthā)absence of order
- अस्त-व्यस्त (ast-vyast)absence of order
- अव्यवस्थित (avyavasthit)absence of order
- विकार (vikār)physical or psychical malfunction
Hungarian rendetlenség, zűrzavar
- rendetlenségabsence of order
- zűrzavarabsence of order
- zavargásdisturbance of civic order or of public order
- zavarphysical or psychical malfunction
- rendellenességphysical or psychical malfunction
- betegségphysical or psychical malfunction
- megbetegedésphysical or psychical malfunction
- elváltozásphysical or psychical malfunction
Icelandic ringulreið, glundroði
- ringulreiðabsence of order
- glundroðiabsence of order
- röskunphysical or psychical malfunction
- kvilliphysical or psychical malfunction
Indonesian gangguan
- gangguanphysical or psychical malfunction
Irish neamhord, ainriail
- neamhordabsence of order
- ainriailabsence of order
Italian disordine, disordine
- disordineabsence of order
- disordinedisturbance of civic order or of public order
- disturbophysical or psychical malfunction
- disordinephysical or psychical malfunction
Japanese 混乱, 障害
- 混乱 (konran)absence of order
- 障害 (shōgai)physical or psychical malfunction
Korean 혼란
- 혼란 (hollan)absence of order
Lithuanian netvarka
- netvarkaabsence of order
Malay berselerak, kekacauan
- berselerakabsence of order
- kekacauandisturbance of civic order or of public order
- gangguanphysical or psychical malfunction
- kecelaruanphysical or psychical malfunction
Māori kaumingomingo, kaumingomingo
- kaumingomingoabsence of order
- kaumingomingodisturbance of civic order or of public order
- whakatōheneheneto throw into disorder
- tīpaopaoto knock out of order or sequence
Norwegian Bokmål uorden, rot
- uordenabsence of order
- rotabsence of order
- forstyrrelsephysical or psychical malfunction
- lidelsephysical or psychical malfunction
Polish nieporządek, nieład
- nieporządekabsence of order
- nieładabsence of order
- bezładabsence of order
- anarchiadisturbance of civic order or of public order
- bezładdisturbance of civic order or of public order
- chaosdisturbance of civic order or of public order
- dezorganizacjadisturbance of civic order or of public order
- zaburzeniephysical or psychical malfunction
Portuguese desordem, desordem
- desordemabsence of order
- desordemdisturbance of civic order or of public order
- transtornophysical or psychical malfunction
- distúrbiophysical or psychical malfunction
Romanian dezordine, neorânduială
- dezordineabsence of order
- neorânduialăabsence of order
- dezordinedisturbance of civic order or of public order
- tulburaredisturbance of civic order or of public order
- tulburarephysical or psychical malfunction
- dereglarephysical or psychical malfunction
Russian беспоря́док, каварда́к
- беспоря́док (besporjádok)absence of order
- каварда́к (kavardák)absence of order
- раскарда́ш (raskardáš)absence of order
- непоря́док (neporjádok)absence of order
- беспоря́дки (besporjádki)disturbance of civic order or of public order
- волне́ния (volnénija)disturbance of civic order or of public order
- сму́та (smúta)disturbance of civic order or of public order
- расстро́йство (rasstrójstvo)physical or psychical malfunction
- наруше́ние (narušénije)physical or psychical malfunction
Scottish Gaelic galar, tinneas
- galarphysical or psychical malfunction
- tinneasphysical or psychical malfunction
- euslaintphysical or psychical malfunction
Slovak neporiadok
- neporiadokabsence of order
Spanish desorden, desorden
- desordenabsence of order
- desordendisturbance of civic order or of public order
- disturbiodisturbance of civic order or of public order
- desenfrenodisturbance of civic order or of public order
- revolúdisturbance of civic order or of public order
- trastornophysical or psychical malfunction
- desordenphysical or psychical malfunction
- trastornarto throw into disorder
- trabucarto throw into disorder
- desordenarto knock out of order or sequence
- permutarto knock out of order or sequence
Swedish oordning, oroligheter
- oordningabsence of order
- oroligheterdisturbance of civic order or of public order
Thai ความผิดปรกติ, ความผิดปกติ
- ความผิดปรกติphysical or psychical malfunction
- ความผิดปกติphysical or psychical malfunction
- โรค (rôok)physical or psychical malfunction
Turkish teşevvüş, iğtişaş
- teşevvüşabsence of order
- iğtişaşabsence of order
Ukrainian безла́ддя, бе́злад
- безла́ддя (bezláddja)absence of order
- бе́злад (bézlad)absence of order
- не́лад (nélad)absence of order
- розгардія́ш (rozhardijáš)absence of order
- непоря́док (neporjádok)absence of order
- ро́злад (rózlad)physical or psychical malfunction
Vietnamese rối loạn
- rối loạnphysical or psychical malfunction
Welsh anhwyldeb
- anhwyldebphysical or psychical malfunction
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with disorder
Cite this entry
disorder. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disorder
“disorder.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disorder. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “disorder,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disorder.
Source: disorder on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.