upheaval

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun a state of violent disturbance and disorder (as in politics or social conditions generally)
noun a violent disturbance
noun (geology) a rise of land to a higher elevation (as in the process of mountain building)

From upheave + -al.

The inner upheaval had gone too far. — Robert Elsmere, Humphry, Mrs. Ward
They are the necessary incidents of a great upheaval. — The Clansman: An Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan, Thomas, Jr. Dixon
It did, via the French Revolution and the resulting upheavals. — Library of the World's Best Mystery and Detective Stories, Unknown

turbulence, Sturm und Drang

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