What’s the difference between “disordered” and “disorderly”? [closed]

Solution 1:

Disordered usually refers to inanimate objects, and disorderly usually refers to some type of action or behavior. For disordered, think about how molecules arrange themselves at a certain temperature -- do they form a lattice, for example? That would be a very ordered arrangement.

For disorderly, think of the misdemeanor "disorderly conduct."

No, "A disordered evacuation ensued" isn't idiomatic. You'd want to say "A disorderly evacuation ensued." "Disordered" is more static -- it's more about the end result than the process.

Solution 2:

In addition to the points in the answer from @Ricky, I would mention one specific usage of ‘disorderly’ that does not relate to ‘order’ (except, perhaps, in a moral sense):

A house might be left in a state of disorder after a burglary,

but…

A disorderly house is another term for a brothel.

And in answer to the specific example question…

No. A “disordered evacuation ensued”, though comprehensible, would sound strange (as explained in the other answer). In fact, if you run a Google ngram on “disordered evacuation” and “disorderly evacuation” you do find the former has recently risen in frequency. However if you look at the actual books involved, the examples of “disordered evacuation” relate to surgical procedures, whereas those of “disorderly evacuation” relate to military manoeuvres.