as in circus
a place of uproar or confusion
the house has been a three-ring circus ever since the kids got back from summer camp
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Recent Examples of three-ring circus
Life gets serious enough, after all—as does Facebook, what with the constant political brawling, and let's not even get started on the total three-ring circus Twitter has turned into lately.
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Jill Gleeson, Country Living, 17 July 2023
Not to mention that Taylor’s productions are like three-ring circuses.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 30 June 2023
It's always been at once an alternative to politics as usual and an intensification of what politics as usual has been drifting toward for a long time now: a gaudy spectacle that's equal parts entertainment, fantasy, fraud, and three-ring circus performed before mutually exclusive cheering mobs.
—Damon Linker, TheWeek, 4 Dec. 2020
As of right now, Zipolite is less accessible than other popular Mexican beach destinations — than, say, the three-ring circus that has subsumed Cancún.
—Jenna Wortham, New York Times, 22 Mar. 2023
See all Example Sentences for three-ring circus 
Jill Gleeson, Country Living, 17 July 2023
Not to mention that Taylor’s productions are like three-ring circuses.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 30 June 2023
It's always been at once an alternative to politics as usual and an intensification of what politics as usual has been drifting toward for a long time now: a gaudy spectacle that's equal parts entertainment, fantasy, fraud, and three-ring circus performed before mutually exclusive cheering mobs.
—Damon Linker, TheWeek, 4 Dec. 2020
As of right now, Zipolite is less accessible than other popular Mexican beach destinations — than, say, the three-ring circus that has subsumed Cancún.
—Jenna Wortham, New York Times, 22 Mar. 2023
See all Example Sentences for three-ring circus
Recent Examples of Synonyms for three-ring circus
Noun
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Eventually, tired of the media circus that surrounded Lindbergh’s life and the tragedy of his son’s death, the family moved to England in 1935.Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Jan. 2025
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Manchester United’s final game of 2024 felt like the moment the big top on the Old Trafford circus started to sink.Laurie Whitwell, The Athletic, 31 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye Welcome to the madhouse.Vulture, Vulture, 28 Feb. 2022
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Life around the office, which included a basketball court and beer on tap, was a preview of the headquarters-as-madhouse ethos soon to dominate Silicon Valley.Alex Williams, New York Times, 14 Oct. 2022
Noun
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The bedlam came during the third quarter of the game in Nanterre, France, which was part of the FIBA Basketball Champions League.Bradford Betz, Fox News, 19 Dec. 2024
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The idea is to bring an irreverent, underground, at times almost Dada-ist sensibility to network television, but that also means surrounding himself with people whose own factory settings are bedlam and cynicism.Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 27 Sep. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Three-ring circus.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/three-ring%20circus. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.
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