disarray Hear it!

disarray definition

dis·ar·ray (dis′ə rā′)

transitive verb

  1. to throw into disorder or confusion; upset
  2. Archaic to undress

Etymology: ME disaraien < OFr desareer: see dis- & array

noun

  1. an untidy condition; disorder; confusion
  2. a state of disorderly or insufficient dress

Etymology: ME disarai < OFr desarroi

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

disarray Synonyms

disarray

n.

disorder, chaos, upset; see confusion 2. See syn. study at confusion.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

disarray Usage Examples

Possessives

  • government: The Railways Bill has exposed the Government's complete disarray over the strategic direction of the rail industry.

Converse of object

  • increase: The " Belle " steamer fleet struggled on, despite vessel sales and increasing financial disarray, under various owners until 1931.

Preposition: at

  • time: His decision to step down left the watchdog in disarray at a time when Wall Street is still engulfed by scandal.

Adjective modifier

  • total: Total disarray would be an accurate description for the current state of the mobile memory card market.

Preposition: in

  • dendrite: Microtubule disarray in cortical dendrites and neurobehavioral failure II.
disarray usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

Link to this page:

Cite this page:

MLA Style

"disarray." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/disarray>

APA Style

disarray. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/disarray

Comments:

Please or Register to post a comment