1
: wide and general destruction : devastation
A tornado wreaked havoc on the town two years ago.
2
: great confusion and disorder
the blackout caused havoc in the city
Synonyms
Examples of havoc in a Sentence
Noun
The disease can play havoc with the body's immune system.
Several small children can create havoc in a house.
Recent Examples on the Web
Seth Joseph, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
For the first time, according to security sources, rival gangs and coalitions began to wreak coordinated havoc, sharing territory for tactical advances.
—Caitlin Stephen Hu, CNN, 15 Mar. 2024
Tornadoes ripped through the Midwest Thursday, causing havoc in the states of Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio.
—Chris Sims, The Courier-Journal, 15 Mar. 2024
This eventually sent all the other cars into the pits, causing havoc for the leader, Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, and allowing Alonso to rise up the field and eventually win the race.
—Brad Spurgeon, Robb Report, 11 Mar. 2024
The outage has also created havoc for patients who use drugmaker coupons to get their prescriptions at a discount.
—Democrat-Gazette Staff and Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 2 Mar. 2024
Tornadoes ripped through the Midwest on Thursday, causing havoc in Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio.
—Cincinnati Enquirer, The Enquirer, 15 Mar. 2024
Officials at the event, which has a reputation on the PGA Tour for its party atmosphere and large crowds, shut the gates on ticketed fans on Saturday afternoon after a mix of muddy conditions, alcohol and huge galleries created havoc — at least as far as some players were concerned.
—Anna Lazarus Caplan, Peoplemag, 12 Feb. 2024
Butler’s knack for causing havoc, both on and off the ball, was atop the list.
—Jon Wilner, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Mar. 2024
Noun
Now, 54 years later, the recent cyberattack on Change Healthcare is wreaking similar havoc on the economic infrastructure of the healthcare system.
—Seth Joseph, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
For the first time, according to security sources, rival gangs and coalitions began to wreak coordinated havoc, sharing territory for tactical advances.
—Caitlin Stephen Hu, CNN, 15 Mar. 2024
Tornadoes ripped through the Midwest Thursday, causing havoc in the states of Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio.
—Chris Sims, The Courier-Journal, 15 Mar. 2024
This eventually sent all the other cars into the pits, causing havoc for the leader, Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, and allowing Alonso to rise up the field and eventually win the race.
—Brad Spurgeon, Robb Report, 11 Mar. 2024
The outage has also created havoc for patients who use drugmaker coupons to get their prescriptions at a discount.
—Democrat-Gazette Staff and Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 2 Mar. 2024
Tornadoes ripped through the Midwest on Thursday, causing havoc in Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio.
—Cincinnati Enquirer, The Enquirer, 15 Mar. 2024
Officials at the event, which has a reputation on the PGA Tour for its party atmosphere and large crowds, shut the gates on ticketed fans on Saturday afternoon after a mix of muddy conditions, alcohol and huge galleries created havoc — at least as far as some players were concerned.
—Anna Lazarus Caplan, Peoplemag, 12 Feb. 2024
Butler’s knack for causing havoc, both on and off the ball, was atop the list.
—Jon Wilner, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'havoc.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Havoc.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/havoc. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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