disarray
/dɪsəˈɹeɪ/verb, noun
disarray is spelled D-I-S-A-R-R-A-Y. The wrong spelling people search most is dissarray: about 30 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 31 of all searches for the word. Disarray is a verb meaning “To throw into disorder; to break the array of”.
How many letters and syllables are in disarray?
| Letters | 8: D-I-S-A-R-R-A-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 30,418th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, dissarray, about 30 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell disarray?
Disarray is spelled D-I-S-A-R-R-A-Y. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 31 of the searches for disarray in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is disarray?
Disarray appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 30,418th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce disarray?
- UK /dɪsəˈɹeɪ/
Disarray has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-disarray.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with disarray?
11 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as disarray from its last stressed vowel (/eɪ/, British pronunciation):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of disarray
- disarrays present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- disarraying participle, present
- disarrayed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does disarray mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To throw into disorder; to break the array of.
- 2
To take off the dress of; to unrobe.
noun
- 1
A lack of array or regular order; disorder; confusion.
- 2
Confused attire; undress; dishabille.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Disarray in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | désordonner, troubler, perturber , désordre, désarroi, zizanie |
| German | Unordnung , Verwirrung |
| Portuguese | cizânia |
| Spanish | desarreglo, desacomodo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does disarray come from?
From Middle English disareyen (“to disarray”), from Middle French desarroyer, from Old French desareer, from des- (“dis-”) + areer (“to array”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).