Pell-mell

//ˈpɛlˈmɛl// adj, adv, noun

adj, adv, noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Alternative form of pall mall (“ball game”). alt-of, alternative, uncountable
Adjective
  1. 1
    Hasty and uncontrolled.

    "Nor moody Beggars, ſtaruing for a time / Of pell-mell hauocke, and confusion."

Adjective
  1. 1
    with undue hurry and confusion wordnet
Adverb
  1. 1
    In haste and chaos; uncontrolledly, confusedly. not-comparable

    "But ſeeing that there the murdring Enemie, / Peſle-meſle, purſued them like a ſtorme of hayle, / They gan retyre vvhere Iuba vvas encampt; […]"

Adverb
  1. 1
    in a wild or reckless manner wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
adoagitationapaceat oncebedlambother

Example

More examples

"He put his things pell-mell in the bag."

Etymology

From French pêle-mêle, from Old French pesle-mesle, apparently a rhyme based on the stem of mesler (“to mix, meddle”). Compare meddle, melee.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.