noun / verb

welter

WEL-ter/ˈweltər/

A confused mass moving or existing in disorder.

A welter of keys, clips, string, and pencils covers the surface.

A tangled, overlapping heap of everyday objects—keys, loose paper clips, rubber bands, string, buttons, and pencils—forms a visibly confused jumble on an otherwise empty white surface.

Etymology

welterMiddle Dutch or Middle Low Germanto roll

Welteren meant to roll, and the English verb described tumbling and surging motion. The noun carried that restless movement into a state of confusion, then a confused mass of things.

In context

LibriVox Audiobooks354:37

Inside, a welter of what had been perhaps six men lying disjointedly in a foot of discolored water.

Everyman at War. Sixty Personal Narratives of the War by Charles B. Purdom Part 1/3 | Audio Book

More examples

She struggles to make sense of the welter of conflicting advice.
His apology disappears in a welter of excuses.
Waves welter around the rocks as the storm intensifies.

Forms

welter · welters · weltered · weltering

Similar words

jumble: Emphasizes things mixed together without any clear arrangement.
turmoil: Emphasizes agitation or disturbance rather than a mass of things.
tangle: Suggests intertwined things or problems that are difficult to separate.