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Mayhem vs Anarchy - What's the difference?

mayhem | anarchy |

As nouns the difference between mayhem and anarchy

is that mayhem is a state or situation of great confusion, disorder, trouble or destruction; chaos while anarchy is the state of a society being without authorities or an authoritative governing body.

mayhem

English

Alternative forms

* maihem

Noun

(en-noun)
  • A state or situation of great confusion, disorder, trouble or destruction; chaos.
  • What if the legendary hero Robin Hood had been born into the mayhem of the 20th century ?
    In all the mayhem , some children were separated from their partners.
    She waded into the mayhem , elbowing between taller men to work her way to the front of the crowd.
    The clowns would dart into the crowd and pull another unsuspecting victim into the mayhem of the ring
  • Infliction of violent injury on a person or thing.
  • The fighting dogs created mayhem in the flower beds.
  • (legal) The maiming of a person by depriving him of the use of any of his limbs which are necessary for defense or protection.
  • (legal) The crime of damaging things or harming people on purpose.
  • Synonyms

    * (chaos) * (infliction of violent injury on a person or thing) * (legal) * See ,

    References

    anarchy

    Noun

  • (uncountable) The state of a society being without authorities or an authoritative governing body.
  • (uncountable) Anarchism]]; the political theory that a community is best [[organize, organized by the voluntary cooperation of individuals, rather than by a government, which is regarded as being coercive by nature.
  • (countable) A chaotic and confusing absence of any form of political authority or government.
  • Confusion in general; disorder.
  • Usage notes

    * (confusion or misunderstanding in general) Anarchists feel it is inappropriate to use anarchy to mean “a state of chaos or confusion”. However, this has historically been a common use of the word. * (English Citations of "anarchy")

    Synonyms

    * see

    Antonyms

    * (all senses) nonanarchy (rare) * (disorder) order

    Derived terms

    * anarchic * anarchical * anarchically * anarchism * anarchist * anarcho- English words suffixed with -archy