maelstrom
noun
Harper's
Did you know?
The original Maelstrom, also known as the Mostenstraumen or Moskstraumen, is a channel located off the northwest coast of Norway that has dangerous tidal currents. English speakers became familiar with its (often exaggerated) perils through literature—Edgar Allan Poe wrote a story called “A Descent into the Maelstrom,” and Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea has—spoiler alert—a maelstrom at its climax. The English word arrived by way of the Dutch word maelstrom, which today is spelled maalstroom. (The Dutch word combines the verb malen, meaning “to grind,” and the noun strom, “stream.”) English speakers have applied the word to any powerful whirlpool since the 16th century, and by the 19th century they’d begun to apply it figuratively to things or situations resembling such maelstroms in turbulence or confusion.
Examples of maelstrom in a Sentence
Isabel Kershner, New York Times, 23 Feb. 2025
Amidst the maelstrom of war in Ukraine, three drag queens – Diva Monroe, Marlene, and Aura – refuse to abandon their homeland.
—Matthew Carey, Deadline, 20 Feb. 2025
That flare-up pales in comparison with the current maelstrom, which jeopardizes not just Gascón’s own campaign, but that of the movie named after, and thus inextricable from, her character.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 30 Jan. 2025
The fact this all plays out in real-time heightens that effect considerably, sweeping us up in the maelstrom of Hart’s bravado thanks to Hawke’s signature charm, even if it is undercut by something else barely concealed below the surface.
—David Opie, IndieWire, 18 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for maelstrom
Cite this Entry
“Maelstrom.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/maelstrom. Accessed 10 Mar. 2025.
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maelstrom
noun
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