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
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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
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1
as in frantically
in a confused and reckless manner
tossed stuff pell-mell into the dorm room
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2
as in hastily
with excessive or careless speed
ran pell-mell down the road to get help
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pell-mell
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
Its unreformed economy is in secular decline, while its pell-mell effort to modernize its armed forces and take strategic initiative has revived NATO, terrified Russia’s formerly pro-Russian neighbors, and put off much of the world.
—Alexander J. Motyl, Foreign Affairs, 25 Sep. 2016
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
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
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
Ministry is not nearly as proficient as Chad Stahelski’s John Wick 4 or Matthias Schweighöfer’s Army of Thieves, but the pell-mell combat scenes are consistently cartoonish.
—Armond White, National Review, 19 Apr. 2024
America saw a pell-mell downsizing of gas-guzzling vehicles and a simultaneous ramping up of imports of fuel-efficient Japanese cars.
—Jim Krane, Fortune, 12 Oct. 2023
Adverb
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
Its unreformed economy is in secular decline, while its pell-mell effort to modernize its armed forces and take strategic initiative has revived NATO, terrified Russia’s formerly pro-Russian neighbors, and put off much of the world.
—Alexander J. Motyl, Foreign Affairs, 25 Sep. 2016
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
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
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
Ministry is not nearly as proficient as Chad Stahelski’s John Wick 4 or Matthias Schweighöfer’s Army of Thieves, but the pell-mell combat scenes are consistently cartoonish.
—Armond White, National Review, 19 Apr. 2024
America saw a pell-mell downsizing of gas-guzzling vehicles and a simultaneous ramping up of imports of fuel-efficient Japanese cars.
—Jim Krane, Fortune, 12 Oct. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pell-mell
Adjective
-
Overhead, a pair of firefighting helicopters circled in constant, hurried laps between the lake and the burning hillsides.—
Wally Skalij,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Jan. 2025
-
He’s got quick crossover acceleration with a hurried stride that cranks its way up ice to give him good speed.—
Scott Wheeler,
The Athletic,
16 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
The playful jab sets a humorous tone for what’s sure to be a chaotic day of competition and drama.—
Shelby Stewart,
Essence,
27 Jan. 2025
-
The series shows what life is really like for the Baldwins — chaotic, funny, exhausting and filled with love.—
Kimberly Nordyke,
The Hollywood Reporter,
27 Jan. 2025
Adverb
-
Jeopardy/Instagram) Goins put his hand to his head while frantically trying to think, but was unable to come up with an answer.—
Brie Stimson,
Fox News,
28 Jan. 2025
-
Karen declared open conflict with Mia and Jacqueline, laying out all the inconsistencies in Mia’s storytelling that leave the group frustrated while Ashley was in the back hallway frantically turning her Anastasia Beverly Hills contour stick into a semblance of five-o’-clock shadow.—
Shamira Ibrahim,
Vulture,
27 Jan. 2025
Adverb
-
These journalistic impulses appear compulsory and hastily satisfied; the earlier, eventless reality TV sheen seems a haven of human insight by comparison.—
J. Kim Murphy,
Variety,
24 Jan. 2025
-
Five minutes before the show was to start, nine rows of bleachers in a temporary grandstand, hastily assembled, quivered and crashed, swallowing about 600 men, women and children.—
Mike Klingaman,
Baltimore Sun,
21 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Biology is complex and messy, and often defies easy categorization.—
Alex Knapp,
Forbes,
24 Jan. 2025
-
The couple split in 2023 with the dispute expanding over the following year into a messy and public ordeal.—
Regina Cho,
VIBE.com,
24 Jan. 2025
Adverb
-
But as has been the case with arguably the top remaining free agent on the open market throughout the winter, this situation still feels wildly fluid.—
Jonathan Granoff,
Newsweek,
29 Jan. 2025
-
Dowdle even said that spring that the Florida Marlins had hurt the game by spending wildly in the winter of 1996-97, winning a World Series and then selling off most of their stars.—
Paul Sullivan,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
The issue is whether the briskly growing services sector and headlong AI-investment buildout can bolster aggregate growth rates in a way that doesn’t bring additional stress on the housing and goods-producing sectors.—
Michael Santoli,
CNBC,
11 Jan. 2025
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Venu responded to the challenges of launching a new sports streamer with headlong momentum, landing former Apple exec Pete Distad to serve as CEO last March before setting a launch target and an opening subscription rate of $42.99 per month.—
Anthony Crupi,
Sportico.com,
10 Jan. 2025
Adverb
-
All of it wild-caught.—
Amy Drew Thompson,
orlandosentinel.com,
14 Aug. 2020
-
Our first stop is in a wild-looking stretch 200 yards south of the railroad tracks and State Street.—
Paul A. Smith,
Journal Sentinel,
2 Jan. 2023
Thesaurus Entries Near pell-mell
Cite this Entry
“Pell-mell.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pell-mell. Accessed 1 Feb. 2025.
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