ANARCHY

anarchy, lawlessness

(noun) a state of lawlessness and disorder (usually resulting from a failure of government)

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

anarchy (countable and uncountable, plural anarchies)

(uncountable) The state of a society being without authorities or an authoritative governing body.

(uncountable) Anarchism; the political theory that a community is best organized by the voluntary cooperation of individuals, rather than by a government, which is regarded as being coercive by nature.

(countable) A chaotic and confusing absence of any form of political authority or government.

Confusion in general; disorder.

Synonyms

• see disorder

Antonyms

• (all senses): nonanarchy (rare)

• (disorder): order

Source: Wiktionary

An"arch*y, n. Etym: [Gr. anarchie. See Anarch.]

1. Absence of government; the state of society where there is no law or supreme power; a state of lawlessness; political confusion. Spread anarchy and terror all around. Cowper.

2. Hence, confusion or disorder, in general. There being then . . . an anarchy, as I may term it, in authors and their reFuller.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition