Dictionary

anarchic en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /əˈnɑː.kɪk/ (UK)
• (US) audio
• /ænˈɑɹ.kɪk/ (US)
• /əˈnɑɹ.kɪk/ (US)
• /ænˈɑː.kɪk/ (UK)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Hellenic *ə- Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) Proto-Indo-European *h₂er-der.? Proto-Indo-European *h₂ergʰ-der.? Ancient Greek ἄρχω (árkhō) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-ā́ Ancient Greek -ᾱ (-ā) Ancient Greek -η (-ē) Ancient Greek ἀρχή (arkhḗ) Ancient Greek -ος (-os) Ancient Greek ἄναρχος (ánarkhos) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) Ancient Greek ᾰ̓νᾰρχῐ́ᾱ (ănărkhĭ́ā)der. New Latin anarchiader. English anarchy Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icuslbor. Old French -iquebor. Middle English -ik English -ic English anarchic From anarchy + -ic.

Meanings

1. Relating to, supporting, or likely to cause anarchy.
2. Chaotic, without law or order.
   • The first of these is the potential for Central and Eastern Europe to become a region of unfettered and anarchic free market capitalism. 1998, Andrew Herod, Susan M. Roberts, An Unruly World?: Globalization, Governance, and Geography, page 174:
   • Distinctions must be drawn here: love is anarchic, marriage is not. 1993, Ernst Jünger, Eumeswil, page 41:
   • The Uganda Police Force described the planned protests as “potentially anarchic” in a statement on Monday, warning it “shall not tolerate disorderly conduct.” 2024 July 22, Nimi Princewill, “Uganda’s President Museveni warns citizens they are ‘playing with fire’ over planned protests”, in CNN, archived from the original on 25 Jul 2024:
3. (derogatory, uncommon) Free-spirited; not bound by the rigors or expectations of society.
   • Lying is just another word for language at its most anarchic, free from any allegiance, or debt, to things as they are. 1979 April 28, Gerry McNamara, “Life for Art's Sake”, in Gay Community News, page 11:
   • Wharton's anarchic celebration of a particular, “ illegitimate," passionate motherhood allows her to launch a devastating critique of "legitimate" family life within marriage and to reveal the centrality of female, sexual desire to her tales and the lives of her characters. 1997, Andrea O'Reilly Herrera, Elizabeth Mahn Nollen, Family Matters in the British and American Novel, page 180:
   • Revisiting The Wild Wigglers signified how anarchic, original and formative this work had been and how it informed and shaped our subsequent choreographic and performative language. 2006, Liz Aggiss, “Reconstruction: or why you can never step into the same river twice”, in Liz Aggiss, Billy Cowie, editor, Anarchic Dance, page 145:
   • Frazer comments on this tendency of his text not only directly, in the preface already quoted, but also indirectly, by taking as one of his principal themes various saturnalian festivals that, in their glorification of "general license, during which the ordinary restraints of society are thrown aside" (ibid., p. 666), in effect bring the principle of free play to its supreme, virtually anarchic expression. 1995, Elazar Barkan, Ronald Bush, Prehistories of the Future, page 150:
   • Previously, jazz had encompassed a continual history of supposed death throes—be it the arrival of "sweet," white big-band music; militant bebop; softer cool jazz; or, finally, anarchic free jazz and rock-influenced fusion. 2013, Ajay Heble, Rob Wallace, People Get Ready: The Future of Jazz Is Now!, page 121:
   • Istanbul was also a simmering cauldron of urban energy: loud, anarchic and quirky as hell. 2014 July 21, Ivan Watson, “Loud, anarchic, quirky: My love affair with Istanbul”, in CNN, archived from the original on 14 Oct 2025:

Forms

Deriveds

anarchically · antianarchic

Synonyms

anarchial

Translations (30)

ca anàrquic (relating to anarchy) · ru анархи́ческий (relating to anarchy) · pl anarchiczny (chaotic, without law or order) · ga anlathach (chaotic, without law or order) · hu anarchikus (chaotic, without law or order) · ga ainrialta (relating to anarchy) · eo anarkia (chaotic, without law or order) · mi turekore (chaotic, without law or order) · fi anarkinen (chaotic, without law or order) · de anarchisch (chaotic, without law or order) · fr anarchique (relating to anarchy) · pt anárquico (chaotic, without law or order) · es ácrata (relating to anarchy) · de anarchistisch (relating to anarchy) · ast anárquicu (relating to anarchy) · fr anarchiste (relating to anarchy) · es anárquico (relating to anarchy) · ro anarhic (chaotic, without law or order) · ro haotic (chaotic, without law or order) · pl anarchiczny (relating to anarchy) · nl anarchistisch (relating to anarchy) · ga ainrialta (chaotic, without law or order) · pt anárquico (relating to anarchy) · ro anarhic (relating to anarchy) · nl anarchistisch (chaotic, without law or order) · fi anarkistinen (relating to anarchy) · ca anàrquic (chaotic, without law or order) · pt anarquista (relating to anarchy) · eo anarkia (relating to anarchy) · gl anárquico (relating to anarchy)