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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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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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of pell-mell
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
The brokers surged out of the exchange, stumbling pell-mell over each other in the general confusion, and reached their respective offices in racehorse time.
—Mickey Butts, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Sep. 2023
Adverb
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
The brokers surged out of the exchange, stumbling pell-mell over each other in the general confusion, and reached their respective offices in racehorse time.
—Mickey Butts, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Sep. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pell-mell
Adjective
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The holiday season can be a hurried, slightly stressful time as the countdown to Christmas morning begins.Rai Mincey, Forbes, 10 Dec. 2024
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Briskly paced, de Jonge’s movie covers a lot of ground both tonal and geographic without ever seeming hurried, conspicuously touristic or heavy-handed in its mix of humor and pathos.Dennis Harvey, Variety, 27 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Well, outside of the chaotic final seconds where, with Washington clinging to a 7-point lead, a game official’s error stopped the clock, leaving the Saints with time to spike the ball, call a play and complete a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Foster Moreau as time expired.Ben Standig, The Athletic, 16 Dec. 2024
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Launching Tuesday, the special was filmed in the slightly less chaotic locale of Hawaii, one of Chieng’s favorite places to work and vacation.Nate Jackson, Los Angeles Times, 16 Dec. 2024
Adverb
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Thankfully, after a weekend spent frantically scrubbing her skin, Ryan did manage to remove most of the paint.Dan Perry, Newsweek, 18 Dec. 2024
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Bald and tired, Harley studied frantically from his hospital bed, clinging to schoolwork as a handhold on life.Yuki Noguchi, NPR, 8 Dec. 2024
Adverb
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Meanwhile, fans of the paranormal mystery horror series discovered that the writers’ strike halted Season 4 mid-production and the show ws hastily wrapped up in a dispiriting four-episode extension.Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 12 Dec. 2024
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Furthermore, a quick look at Gottheimer’s Wrapped looks noticeably fuzzier and lo-res than a normal screengrab — as if some poor campaign intern spent 45 minutes hastily concocting it in Photoshop.Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 11 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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The decision worked smoothly for the AAC in Year 1 of this new setup, but the potential for a messy schedule remains in the future.Matt Weyrich, Baltimore Sun, 13 Dec. 2024
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Their divorce has been messy, with both exes calling each other out via Instagram.Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 13 Dec. 2024
Adverb
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The best vanilla perfumes are wildly underrated in their versatility.Conçetta Ciarlo, Vogue, 18 Dec. 2024
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Tierra Whack – World Wide Whack Tierra Whack’s wildly original 2018 mixtape Whack World was a brief but memorable debut, speeding through 15 songs in 15 minutes.Al Shipley, SPIN, 18 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Sadly, New York Magazine displayed no such judgment in its reckless headlong pursuit of publishing a salacious, attention-grabbing article, no matter the truth.Brendan Morrow, USA TODAY, 2 Nov. 2024
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The show’s vibrant aesthetic and period pop score, meanwhile, provide a nostalgia trip to the early 2000s — while not shying away from what the era’s headlong embrace of social media did to our grasp on collective truth.Patrick Brzeski, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Nov. 2024
Adverb
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All of it wild-caught.Amy Drew Thompson, orlandosentinel.com, 14 Aug. 2020
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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 22 Dec. 2024.
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