turmoil.

A state of disorder, agitation, or intense uncertainty.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• political turmoil
• inner turmoil

On the page

The resignation plunged the department into turmoil.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: Usually uncountable; no ordinary plural in this sense. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Commonness: moderately common.