Pronunciation guide
How to pronounce chaos
KAY-oss - two syllables; 'ch' is a hard 'k'
US/ˈkeɪɑs/
keɪɑs
UK/ˈkeɪɒs/
keɪɒs
New to IPA symbols? Read the IPA guide.
Common mistake
The 'ch' is a hard 'k' ('KAY-oss'), not 'ch' as in 'church'.
What “chaos” means
Complete disorder and confusion.
(cosmology) The formless or void state that, in classical accounts, preceded the creation of the universe.
In a sentence
- The lecture hall erupted into chaos as the fire alarm sounded.
- After the power cut, the junction was chaos for an hour.
Definitions and examples are derived from Wiktionary, used under CC BY-SA 4.0, then edited by QuickPronounce. Pronunciation data draws on CMUdict.