The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Commotion \Com*mo"tion\, n. [L. commotio: cf. F. commotion. See
   Motion.]
   1. Disturbed or violent motion; agitation.
      [1913 Webster]

            [What] commotion in the winds !       --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. A popular tumult; public disturbance; riot.
      [1913 Webster]

            When ye shall hear of wars and commotions. --Luke
                                                  xxi. 9.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Agitation, perturbation, or disorder, of mind; heat;
      excitement. "He could not debate anything without some
      commotion." --Clarendon.

   Syn: Excitement; agitation; perturbation; disturbance;
        tumult; disorder; violence.
        [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

commotion
    n 1: a disorderly outburst or tumult; "they were amazed by the
         furious disturbance they had caused" [syn: disturbance,
         disruption, commotion, flutter, hurly burly, to-
         do, hoo-ha, hoo-hah, kerfuffle]
    2: the act of making a noisy disturbance [syn: commotion,
       din, ruction, ruckus, rumpus, tumult]
    3: confused movement; "he was caught up in a whirl of work"; "a
       commotion of people fought for the exits" [syn: whirl,
       commotion]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

185 Moby Thesaurus words for "commotion":
   Bedlam let loose, ado, agitation, annoyance, bedlam, blast,
   bluster, bobbery, boil, boiling, bother, botheration, brawl, broil,
   brouhaha, burst, bustle, cacophony, chaos, charivari, chirm, churn,
   clamor, clangor, clap, clatter, coil, communal, confusion,
   conjoint, conjunct, conturbation, convulsion, din, discomposure,
   discord, disorder, disquiet, disquietude, disturbance, dither,
   donnybrook, donnybrook fair, drunken brawl, dustup, ebullience,
   ebullition, eddy, effervescence, embroilment, excitement,
   fanaticism, feery-fary, ferment, fermentation, fever, feverishness,
   fidgetiness, fidgets, fit, flap, flurry, fluster, flutter,
   flutteration, flutteriness, foment, fomentation, foofaraw, fracas,
   free-for-all, frenzy, fume, furor, furore, fury, fuss, fussiness,
   hassle, hell broke loose, helter-skelter, howl, hubbub,
   hue and cry, hullabaloo, hurly-burly, hurrah, hurry, hurry-scurry,
   inquietude, insurgence, insurrection, irritation, jangle, jitters,
   joint, jumpiness, lather, loud noise, maelstrom, malaise, melee,
   moil, mutiny, mutual, nerviness, nervosity, nervousness, noise,
   noise and shouting, outcry, pandemonium, passion, pell-mell,
   perturbation, pother, public, racket, rage, rampage, rattle,
   rebellion, restlessness, revolt, rhubarb, riot, roar, roil,
   rough-and-tumble, roughhouse, rout, row, ruckus, ruction, ruffle,
   rumble, rumpus, scramble, seethe, seething, shared, shindig,
   shindy, shivaree, spasm, spurt, stew, stir, storm, storminess,
   strain, sweat, swirl, swirling, tempestuousness, tension, thunder,
   thunderclap, tintamarre, to-do, trepidation, trepidity, trouble,
   tumult, tumultuation, tumultuousness, turbidity, turbulence,
   turmoil, twitter, unease, unquiet, unrest, upheaval, uprising,
   uproar, upset, upturn, vexation, vortex, whirl, wildness,
   yeastiness, zeal, zealousness