Mischief vs. Chaos — What's the Difference?

Mischief or malicious mischief is the specific name for different criminal offenses in a number of different jurisdictions. While the wrongful acts will often involve what is popularly described as vandalism, there can be a legal differentiation between the two.

Complete disorder and confusion

Behavior that causes annoyance or difficulty

A condition or place of great disorder or confusion.

Damage, destruction, or injury caused by a specific person or thing

A disorderly mass; a jumble

(Archaic) A specific injury or harm done

Often Chaos The disordered state of unformed matter and infinite space supposed in some cosmogonic views to have existed before the ordered universe.

The inclination or tendency to play pranks or get into trouble

Chaos theory.

(uncountable) Conduct that playfully causes petty annoyance.

(Mathematics) A dynamical system that has a sensitive dependence on its initial conditions.

(countable) A playfully annoying action.

(Obsolete) An abyss; a chasm.

(collective) A group or a pack of rats.

The unordered state of matter in classical accounts of cosmogony.

(archaic) Harm or injury:

Any state of disorder; a confused or amorphous mixture or conglomeration.

(uncountable) Harm or trouble caused by an agent or brought about by a particular cause.

(mathematics) A behaviour of iterative non-linear systems in which arbitrarily small variations in initial conditions become magnified over time.

(countable) An injury or an instance of harm or trouble caused by a person or other agent or cause.

(fantasy) One of the two metaphysical forces of the world in some fantasy settings, as opposed to law.

(legal) A criminal offence defined in various ways in various jurisdictions, sometimes including causing damage to another's property.

(obsolete) A vast chasm or abyss.

A cause or agent of annoyance, harm or injury, especially a person who causes mischief.

A given medium; a space in which something exists or lives; an environment.

(euphemism) The Devil; used as an expletive.

An empty, immeasurable space; a yawning chasm.

To do a mischief to; to harm.

The confused, unorganized condition or mass of matter before the creation of distinct and orderly forms.

To slander.

Any confused or disordered collection or state of things; a confused mixture; confusion; disorder.

Harm; damage; esp., disarrangement of order; trouble or vexation caused by human agency or by some living being, intentionally or not; often, calamity, mishap; trivial evil caused by thoughtlessness, or in sport.

A state of extreme confusion and disorder

Cause of trouble or vexation; trouble.

The formless and disordered state of matter before the creation of the cosmos

To do harm to.

(Greek mythology) the most ancient of gods; the personification of the infinity of space preceding creation of the universe

Reckless or malicious behavior that causes discomfort or annoyance in others

(physics) a dynamical system that is extremely sensitive to its initial conditions

The quality or nature of being harmful or evil