Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A state of disorder; confusion.
  • noun Disorderly dress.
  • transitive verb To throw into confusion; upset.
  • transitive verb To undress.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To undress or disrobe; divest, as of clothes or attributes.
  • To throw into disorder; rout, as troops.
  • To undress or strip one's self.
  • noun Disorder; confusion; loss or want of array or regular order.
  • noun Imperfect attire; undress.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Want of array or regular order; disorder; confusion.
  • noun Confused attire; undress.
  • transitive verb To throw into disorder; to break the array of.
  • transitive verb To take off the dress of; to unrobe.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To throw into disorder; to break the array of.
  • verb To take off the dress of; to unrobe.
  • noun Want of array or regular order; disorder; confusion.
  • noun Confused attire; undress; dishabille.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb bring disorder to
  • noun untidiness (especially of clothing and appearance)
  • noun a mental state characterized by a lack of clear and orderly thought and behavior

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English disareyen ("to disarray"), from Middle French desarroyer, from Old French desareer, from des- 'dis-' + areer 'to array'

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Examples

  • Divorce, troubled children, mother working, a house in disarray, is not successful home life.

    She Never "Did" Anything 2005

  • Divorce, troubled children, mother working, a house in disarray, is not successful home life.

    Archive 2005-07-01 2005

  • Their point guard situation is in disarray, which is certainly not what you want as you enter the NCAA tournament.

    USATODAY.com - NCAA West Region 2002

  • Everything's been in disarray ever since that Mansion Madam Lisa Taylor got busted.

    Opportunity Available. (Blog for Democracy) 2009

  • July 31st, 2009 11: 47 am ET there is very little about the organization and current shape of the GOP that does not appear in disarray

    DCCC campaign hits vulnerable GOP incumbents on health care 2009

  • The UN Copenhagen climate talks are in disarray today after developing countries reacted furiously to leaked documents that show world leaders will next week be asked to sign an agreement that hands more power to rich countries and sidelines the UN's role in all future climate change negotiations.

    POLITICAL HOT TOPICS: December 9, 2009 2009

  • The Guardian: Copenhagen climate summit in disarray after 'Danish text' leak

    POLITICAL HOT TOPICS: December 9, 2009 2009

  • Two friends and colleagues, their hair still in wind-blown disarray from a shoreline geology field trip of San Diego Bay on a boat, full and happy from margaritas and a wonderful Mexican dinner, are heading to their respective rooms.

    Archive 2010-02-01 alison 2010

  • During this 8 year debacle the following occured: our education was and still is in disarray, NOTHING was done about health care, 911 happened on their watch, we sent troops to war into the wrong country (any WMD's found yet?), Katrina hit and they watched it like a TV program barely lifting a hand for 1 week.

    Cheney named Conservative of the Year 2009

  • And by Friday, he was back here, to prep for a Westwood film premiere, even as management at his home base, Paramount Pictures, was in disarray again.

    POLITICAL HOT TOPICS: June 22, 2009 2009

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