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havoc

English · Thesaurus

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havoc

  • /ˈhævək/
  • /ˈhævək/ Australia
  • /ˈhævɪk/ Australia
  • /ˈhævək/ US
  • /ˈhævɪk/ US

Where it comes from

From Middle English havok, havyk, from Old French havok in the phrase crier havok (“cry havoc”) a signal to soldiers to seize plunder, from Old French crier (“cry out, shout”) + havot (“pillaging, looting”), of obscure origin. Probably from a derivative of Old French *haf, hef (“hook”), from Frankish *haf, *habbjā, *happjā (“pruning-hook, scythe”), derived from Proto-Germanic *habjaną (“to take up, lift”), related to Old French havee (“handful”), Old French havet (“pruning-hook”), Old High German habba, heppa (“pruning-hook, scythe”), modern German Hippe (“billhook”). If so, then also related to English heave and doublet of hatchet.

noun havocs · hauocke · havock · havok

  1. uncountable, usually Widespread devastation and destruction. I [Paul the Apostle] vvas going to Damaſcus vvith Letters from the High Prieſt to make Havock of God's People there, as I had made Havock of them in other places. Theſe bloody Letters vvas not impoſed upon me. I vvent to the High Prieſt and deſired them of him, Acts 9. 1, 2. And yet he [God] ſaved m
  2. uncountable, usually Mayhem.

verb havocs · havocking · havocked · hauocke · havock

  1. To pillage. To tear and havoc more than she can eat.
  2. To cause havoc.

interjection hauocke · havock · havok

  1. A cry in war as the signal for indiscriminate slaughter. Do not cry havoc, where you should but hunt / With modest warrant.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: mayhem, devastation, ruin, destruction, desolation, wreak, damage, harm, shambles, scourge, decay, calamity, undermining, clutter, disruption, toll

Translations

Every language

noun devastation

Españoldestrucción, devastación, ruina
中文浩劫 hàojié
हिन्दीनाश nāś
Portuguêsdestruição, devastação, ruína
Françaischaos, dévastation, bazar
DeutschZerstörung, Verwüstung
Italianorovina, distruzione, strage
Русскийопустоше́ние opustošénije, разруше́ние razrušénije

noun mayhem

Françaischaos
DeutschChaos, Durcheinander
Русскийбеспоря́док besporjádok, ха́ос xáos, хао́с xaós

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MLA

"havoc." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/havoc. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

havoc. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/havoc

Chicago

"havoc." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/havoc.

BibTeX
@misc{havoc_2026,
  title = {havoc},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/havoc},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}