Meanings
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1
noun
a scene of uproar and confusion
When the fire alarm rang, the office descended into bedlam.
Thesaurus
Opposites
Word family
Derived forms
bedlamite
Related forms
Bethlehem
Etymology
An alteration of Bethlehem, from the Hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem in London, a medieval asylum for the mentally ill; the name became a byword for madhouse and then for any scene of uproar.
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