upheaval

Plural: upheavals

Noun

• A violent or sudden change causing disruption.
• a state of violent disturbance and disorder (as in politics or social conditions generally)
• a violent disturbance
• (geology) a rise of land to a higher elevation (as in the process of mountain building)
• disturbance usually in protest
• Disruptive change, from one state to another.
• The process of being heaved upward, especially the raising of part of the earth's crust.
• A sudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion.

Examples

• The unexpected blank tile caused a total UPHEAVAL in her carefully planned Words With Friends strategy.

Synonyms

agitation, convulsion, excitement, hullabaloo, Sturm und Drang, turbulence, turmoil, uplift, upthrow, upthrust, seismic shift