1
as in hurried
acting or done with excessive or careless speed
when the theater doors opened, there was a pell-mell rush for the best seats
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in chaotic
lacking in order, neatness, and often cleanliness
pell-mell piles of books everywhere in the professor's library
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in frantically
in a confused and reckless manner
tossed stuff pell-mell into the dorm room
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in hastily
with excessive or careless speed
ran pell-mell down the road to get help
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pell-mell
Andy Kroll, ProPublica, 18 Oct. 2025
The sight of Musk swinging a chainsaw onstage at a conservative conference captured the pell-mell approach, not to mention the brutality, of the billionaire’s plan to bring the federal government to heel.
—Andy Kroll, New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2025
What could slow the pell-mell stock market advance of artificial intelligence?
—Larry Light, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025
People ran pell-mell outside, sped away in cars with no clear destination, went to church, or just phoned the police or radio station to hyperventilate.
—Nicolas Rapold, airmail.news, 23 Nov. 2024
Abe and Mary are part Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara, part George and Martha, part the old vaudevillians George Burns and Gracie Allen, all running together pell-mell toward the Copacabana.
—Chris Jones, New York Daily News, 12 July 2024
Administration officials don’t see this situation as similar to October 2022, when the intelligence community saw a significant possibility Putin might use tactical nuclear weapons to avert a collapse of Russia’s front lines in Ukraine and prevent a pell-mell retreat.
—David Ignatius, Washington Post, 21 June 2024
Only a few of them stopped with remainder racing pell-mell through the intersection as approaching cars on Charles braked abruptly.
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 25 Apr. 2024
Ultimately, the more naturalistic second half — which has a realistic set with chairs and tables, delivered in a clunky black-out transition by intrusive stagehands — gets as sharp and loud as the pell-mell sounds-and-lights first half.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 12 Apr. 2024
Adverb
The sight of Musk swinging a chainsaw onstage at a conservative conference captured the pell-mell approach, not to mention the brutality, of the billionaire’s plan to bring the federal government to heel.
—Andy Kroll, ProPublica, 18 Oct. 2025
The sight of Musk swinging a chainsaw onstage at a conservative conference captured the pell-mell approach, not to mention the brutality, of the billionaire’s plan to bring the federal government to heel.
—Andy Kroll, New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2025
What could slow the pell-mell stock market advance of artificial intelligence?
—Larry Light, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025
People ran pell-mell outside, sped away in cars with no clear destination, went to church, or just phoned the police or radio station to hyperventilate.
—Nicolas Rapold, airmail.news, 23 Nov. 2024
Abe and Mary are part Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara, part George and Martha, part the old vaudevillians George Burns and Gracie Allen, all running together pell-mell toward the Copacabana.
—Chris Jones, New York Daily News, 12 July 2024
Administration officials don’t see this situation as similar to October 2022, when the intelligence community saw a significant possibility Putin might use tactical nuclear weapons to avert a collapse of Russia’s front lines in Ukraine and prevent a pell-mell retreat.
—David Ignatius, Washington Post, 21 June 2024
Only a few of them stopped with remainder racing pell-mell through the intersection as approaching cars on Charles braked abruptly.
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 25 Apr. 2024
Ultimately, the more naturalistic second half — which has a realistic set with chairs and tables, delivered in a clunky black-out transition by intrusive stagehands — gets as sharp and loud as the pell-mell sounds-and-lights first half.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 12 Apr. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pell-mell
Adjective
-
Inside an intimate pub, however, filling out the scene with empty tables could distract from the hurried, nervous nature of the filmmaker’s original intent.—
Todd Martens,
Los Angeles Times,
14 May 2026
-
Staying there feels like stepping back in time to a less crowded, less hurried version of Italy, where old men gather in front of the church to watch the world go by, and families with little kids enjoy a gelato on the terrace of the cafes on the main square.—
Laura Itzkowitz,
Travel + Leisure,
10 May 2026
Adjective
-
Summa’s 1982 snapshot of a stage diver at a Circle Jerks concert in Reseda is among the best examples of punk’s live and chaotic energy.—
Siran Babayan,
Los Angeles Times,
18 May 2026
-
Instead, Tuesday‘s finale is shaping up to be one of the state’s most chaotic primary elections in decades.—
Greg Bluestein,
AJC.com,
18 May 2026
Adverb
-
Third base coach Hector Borg frantically waved Lee home, and Lee kept his foot on the gas.—
Justice delos Santos,
Mercury News,
15 May 2026
-
Employees were frantically readying the space to serve its first customers.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
15 May 2026
Adverb
-
Important parts of a patient’s history can be too hastily discounted as red herrings; test results can come back that don’t easily fit with the story that has been told.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 May 2026
-
People sating their desires for food and company no longer need seedy hotels or hastily arranged Facebook events, now that brick-and-mortar spaces like Aikens’s restaurant exist.—
Victoria M. Walker,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
15 May 2026
Adjective
-
As immigration officers arrested her six weeks ago, through tears and a rushed goodbye, Maria de Jesus Estrada Juarez had a request for her daughter.—
Mathew Miranda,
Sacbee.com,
6 Apr. 2026
-
Little emphasized the need to ease property taxes in a letter accompanying his signature but criticized Moyle’s approach as rushed and overly complex.—
Mark Dee
March 25,
Idaho Statesman,
25 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
But even chips are absent from the formal agenda because the politics are too messy.—
Liz Hoffman,
semafor.com,
14 May 2026
-
Just to make things even messier and more over-plotted, Sylvie notices a light on for five days straight in an upper-floor apartment, reporting to the cops her concern that the old man who lives there might have died.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
14 May 2026
Adverb
-
But Mexican authorities believe that the measles virus probably arrived in the throat or lungs of the third-grader, who was unvaccinated, and then spread wildly.—
Mary Beth Sheridan,
CNN Money,
17 May 2026
-
As a result, the Oscar-winner maintained, gender imbalance is still wildly present in the industry.—
Tom Tapp,
Deadline,
17 May 2026
Adverb
-
And if Black passengers dared to pull the curtain aside, the dining car steward would hurriedly pull the curtain closed, or worse.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 May 2026
-
The Spaniard left hurriedly, carrying a frown that owed to a sense of injustice.—
Jacob Tanswell,
New York Times,
1 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pell-mell.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pell-mell. Accessed 23 May. 2026.
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