All these words signify an absence, disruption or breakdown of law and order. Lawlessness implies either that no law exists or that the law is not being enforced or obeyed: the lawlessness of a Wild West town without a sheriff; the lawlessness of a band of outlaws. In a broad sense, this word may indicate disregard of any or all restrictive regulations: the lawlessness of children who are allowed to run wild. Lawlessness may also apply to actions that are not controlled or authorized by law or in accord apply to actions that are not controlled or authorized by law or in accord with it: the lawlessness of his behaviour; the lawlessness of a rioting mob. Anarchy comes from Greek roots that literally mean without a leader. At its most extreme, it implies the lawless confusion and chaos that result when no central authority is exercised by anyone, either within or outside the law, and when no general rules of order are in effect: a newly independent colony plunged into anarchy by warring factions and a lack of central leadership; total anarchy after a nuclear holocaust, the only rules being every man or himself and survival of the fittest. In a general sense anarchy simply indicates the absence of government, society being regulated by voluntary agreement and marked by absolute individual freedom. In a disapproving sense, anarchy can also imply utter licence – freedom unchecked by self-regulation and unrestrained by submission to authority: the anarchy of rebellious youth, seeking liberty without responsibility.

Lawlessness and anarchy have to do with prevailing conditions. The remaining words, by contrast, apply to temporary breaches of the peace or to single incidents or outbreaks of unruly conduct. Disturbance is the mildest of these. A disturbance may be no ore than a slight commotion or an annoying racket, and it can be caused by a single person or by any number of people: a drunk creating a disturbance in a bar; people throwing an all-night party, castigated for causing a disturbance to the peace of a quiet neighbourhood. Disorder is the most general of all these words, but here it applies specifically to a disturbance of proper civic order: a man charged with disorderly conduct. As a noun in this sense, disorder generally implies that a number of people are involved and that there is considerably more confusion and commotion than in a disturbance : an outbreak of disorder in the gallery of the House before the demonstrators were ejected. Riot indicates the largest and most violent outbreak of the three. In law, a riot is a tumultuous disturbance of the public peach by three or more assembled persons, who, in the execution of some private object, do an act, lawful or unlawful, in a manner calculated to terrorize the people. As the word is commonly understood, a riot involves mob action, frenzy and often violence: a race riot in Detroit, marked by looting, burning and attacks on police. A riot often involves mass lawlessness , but it is usually not leaderless: a demagogue who deliberately inflamed his listeners to such a degree that they started a riot .