All these words mean a lack of order and arrangement. Clutter implies that objects are jumbled together in heaps, while disorder means that they are not in their normal places. Clutter emphasizes the miscellaneous or various nature of the mess, whereas disorder points to the lack of proper arrangement of the individual objects, and thus usually refers to spatial relationships within an area.

• Finding a particular book amidst the clutter of papers and books on his desk was indeed a challenge; to find a rare clock in the clutter of an antique shop; Burglars left the premises in a state of disorder ?the contents of every cupboard and drawer scattered about the floors.

Disorder may of course refer to any lack of order: riots and civil disorder . Disarray refers specifically to the lack of orderly arrangement, and may apply to people, especially if usually in a disciplined arrangement, as well as to things.

• The troops retreated in disarray ; The office, usually so neat, was in complete disarray after we moved.

Disarray may also be used of one’s clothing or person.

• Her hair was in disarray ; Jarred and shaken from his fall, he began to adjust his clothing, which was in a state of disarray .

Disarray is a rather formal or literary word and would be out of place in any informal context.

Confusion , as here considered, suggests that things are so disordered that it is difficult to identify the individual objects in the general clutter : Burglars left things scattered in such confusion that it was days before we knew what had been stolen. Confusion refers also to a mental state: the confusion in his mind about what really happened in the accident. Chaos implies both extreme disorder and nearly total confusion : After the bombing attack, the city was in a state of chaos .