Synonyms
Examples of bedlam in a Sentence
The park had never had so many visitors at one time. It was total bedlam.
French physician Philippe Pinel was instrumental in the transformation of bedlams from filthy hellholes to well-ordered, humane institutions.
Recent Examples on the Web
The idea is to bring an irreverent, underground, at times almost Dada-ist sensibility to network television, but that also means surrounding himself with people whose own factory settings are bedlam and cynicism.
—
Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 27 Sep. 2024
One is Mayhem in the Madness, which is all about chaos, bedlam and havoc, while Startled Darkness is perfect for those who claim to not be afraid of the dark.
—Meredith G. White, The Arizona Republic, 24 Sep. 2024
There are courtroom histrionics, rioting at Arkham, and bedlam in the streets, wrapped around Arthur’s musical romance with Harley.
—Bill Desowitz, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2024
Despite its focus on catastrophic weather, the film carefully elides any mention of climate change and its real-world contributions to the meteorological bedlam described onscreen.
—Rafi Schwartz, The Week Us, theweek, 23 July 2024
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Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 27 Sep. 2024
One is Mayhem in the Madness, which is all about chaos, bedlam and havoc, while Startled Darkness is perfect for those who claim to not be afraid of the dark.
—Meredith G. White, The Arizona Republic, 24 Sep. 2024
There are courtroom histrionics, rioting at Arkham, and bedlam in the streets, wrapped around Arthur’s musical romance with Harley.
—Bill Desowitz, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2024
Despite its focus on catastrophic weather, the film carefully elides any mention of climate change and its real-world contributions to the meteorological bedlam described onscreen.
—Rafi Schwartz, The Week Us, theweek, 23 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for bedlam
Dictionary Entries Near bedlam
Cite this Entry
“Bedlam.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bedlam. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
bedlam
noun
bed·lam
ˈbed-ləm 
: a place or scene of uproar and confusion
Etymology
from Middle English Bedlem "Bethlehem"
Word Origin
Around 1402 the home of a religious community in London was turned into a hospital for the mentally ill. This new hospital kept the name of the community and was known as the Hospital of Saint Mary of Bethlehem. People soon shortened this name to Bethlehem. In Middle English, though, the town of Bethlehem in Palestine was called Bedlem or Bethlem, so this was the pronunciation used for the hospital's name. In time the name Bedlem or Bedlam came to refer to any home for the mentally ill. Today we use bedlam for any scene of noise and confusion like that found in the early hospitals for the mentally ill.
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