disarray

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English disareyen (“to disarray”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle French desarroyer, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French desareer, from des- (“dis-”) + areer (“to array”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪsəˈɹeɪ/
• Rhymes: -eɪ

Verb

disarray (third-person singular simple present disarrays, present participle disarraying, simple past and past participle disarrayed)

1. (transitive) To throw into disorder; to break the array of.
   • (Can we date this quote by Fenton and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     Who with fiery steeds / Oft disarrayed the foes in battle ranged.

2. (transitive) To take off the dress of; to unrobe.
   • (Can we date this quote by Spenser and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     So, as she bade, the witch they disarrayed.

Antonyms

• array

Translations

To throw into disorder; to break the array of

• Bulgarian: разбърквам (bg) (razbǎrkvam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 混乱 (zh) (hùnluàn)

• Dutch: verstoren (nl), verwarren (nl)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Finnish: sekoittaa (fi), panna sekaisin, saattaa epäjärjestykseen
• Romanian: dezorganiza (ro), zăpăci (ro)

To take off the dress of; to unrobe

• Bulgarian: събличам (bg) (sǎbličam)
• Dutch: uitkleden (nl)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Romanian: dezbrăca (ro)

Noun

disarray (uncountable)

1. Lack of array or regular order; disorder; confusion.
   • 2012 April 15, Phil McNulty, “Tottenham 1-5 Chelsea”, in BBC‎^[1]:

     Tottenham pushed forward in an attempt to complete the recovery - but only succeeded in leaving themselves wide open to Chelsea's attacks and Redknapp's side ended in total disarray.

2. Confused attire; undress; dishabille.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:disorder

Translations

Want of array or regular order

• Bulgarian: бъркотия (bg) f (bǎrkotija), безпорядък (bg) m (bezporjadǎk)
• Dutch: wanorde (nl)
• Finnish: sekasorto (fi), kaaos (fi), epäjärjestys (fi)
• French: désordre (fr) m, désarroi (fr) m, zizanie (fr) f
• German: Unordnung (de) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Maori: kaumingomingo
• Portuguese: cizânia (pt) f
• Romanian: dezordine (ro) f, neorânduială (ro) f
• Spanish: desorden (es)
• Swedish: oreda (sv) c, oordning (sv) c

Confused attire; undress

• Finnish: epäjärjestys (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: Verwirrung (de) f