as in brawls
a rough and often noisy fight usually involving several people
a verbal disagreement at the football game soon turned into a general melee involving scores of spectators
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of melees
There was a bunch of melees on the ice today.
—
Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 22 Apr. 2026
College basketball games recently have turned into full-contact melees after hard fouls on the court.
—Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 23 Feb. 2026
Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 22 Apr. 2026
College basketball games recently have turned into full-contact melees after hard fouls on the court.
—Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 23 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for melees
Noun
-
Kennywood, a nearly 130-year-old amusement park outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is tightening its summer chaperon policy as parks around the country experience violent brawls and unruly teen crowds heading into the heart of the season.—
Jessica Mekles,
FOXNews.com,
12 June 2026
-
The beach takeovers typically include brawls and underage drinking.—
Rick Sobey,
Boston Herald,
3 June 2026
Noun
-
The clashes continued even after police ordered the demonstrators to disperse.—
Jamey Keaten,
Los Angeles Times,
14 June 2026
-
In the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, violence drove displacements to record levels following the armed clashes in Cite Soleil in March and again in May.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
14 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Melees.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/melees. Accessed 19 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
