TUMULT

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does tumult mean? 

• TUMULT (noun)
  The noun TUMULT has 3 senses:

1. a state of commotion and noise and confusion

2. violent agitation

3. the act of making a noisy disturbance

  Familiarity information: TUMULT used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TUMULT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A state of commotion and noise and confusion

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

garboil; tumult; tumultuousness; uproar

Hypernyms ("tumult" is a kind of...):

commotion; disruption; disturbance; flutter; hoo-ha; hoo-hah; hurly burly; kerfuffle; to-do (a disorderly outburst or tumult)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tumult"):

combustion (a state of violent disturbance and excitement)

Derivation:

tumultuous (characterized by unrest or disorder or insubordination)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Violent agitation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Synonyms:

tumult; turmoil

Hypernyms ("tumult" is a kind of...):

agitation (the feeling of being agitated; not calm)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of making a noisy disturbance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

commotion; din; ruckus; ruction; rumpus; tumult

Hypernyms ("tumult" is a kind of...):

disturbance (the act of disturbing something or someone; setting something in motion)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tumult"):

ado; bustle; flurry; fuss; hustle; stir (a rapid active commotion)

 Context examples 

The tumult of cessation from lessons was already breaking forth, but it sank at her voice.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

“Mr. Van Weyden!” he cried, and I heard through the tumult as one might hear a whisper.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The pity for Jonathan, the horror which he experienced, the whole fearful mystery of his diary, and the fear that has been brooding over me ever since, all came in a tumult.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

I saw him on the point of repeating his blow, when, overcome by pain and anguish, I quitted the cottage, and in the general tumult escaped unperceived to my hovel.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

I know no sound to which I could compare this amazing tumult, which seemed to come from some spot within a few hundred yards of our camp.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They carried him through the wild roar, a hush in the midst of all the tumult; and took him to the cottage where Death was already.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The tumult of Elizabeth's mind was allayed by this conversation.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

“If we bide here, who knows that some fresh tumult may not break out.”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

If tenderness could be ever supposed wanting, good sense and good breeding supplied its place; and as to the little irritations sometimes introduced by aunt Norris, they were short, they were trifling, they were as a drop of water to the ocean, compared with the ceaseless tumult of her present abode.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Faulkner claimed to be champion of the seniors, and even old Buckhorse’s curious call rang out above the tumult as he turned the whole company to laughter and good humour again by challenging anything over eighty and under seven stone.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)