Meaning

(dated, countable, uncountable) A hash of various kinds of meats; a ragout..

Definitions by Sense

1. (dated, countable, uncountable) A hash of various kinds of meats; a ragout.
2. (figuratively) Any absurd medley; an elaborate mishmash.

Example Sentences

At length, having discussed in turn pilaus, keebaubs, ollas, and a legion of gallimaufrys not mentioned in the classic pages of Kitchener and Ude, the cook's brain became completely addled by the elaborate and conflicting directions bestowed upon him; […]

I have tried many times, but always without success, to ascertain the average daily ration consumed by the Chinese railroad laborer, as a means of comparing their value with that of Americans. The reason this cannot be obtained is because they eat so many oily gallimaufries, alliaceous stews and indescribable vegetable hotchpotches, of which the ingredients are principally brought from China and have Chinese names.

For gallimaufrey, roast poultry or capons, and cut into pieces. After fry with lard or goose lard. When they are fried, put in wine and verjuice. For spices, put some ginger powder and, to thicken, cameline, and a moderate amount of salt.

[O]ur mother tongue, which truly of it ſelfe is both ful enough for proſe, and ſtately enough for verſe, hath long time beene counted moſt bare and barren of both. Which default, when as ſome endeuoured to ſalue and recure, they patched vp the holes with peeces and ragges of other languages; borrowing here of the French, there of the Italian, euery where of the Latine, not weighing how ill thoſe tongues accord with themſelues, but much worſe with ours: So how they haue made our Engliſh tongue a gallimaufrey or hodgepodge of all other ſpeeches.

The language of writers who are safely dead, and can be studied without fear of their exerting a subversive influence, bears the respectable label 'old Scots dialect'; the same tongue spoken by the living compatriots of these writers is 'bad grammar'. […] This attitude is of course not new; though perhaps seldom expressed so blatantly. I call it the Pinkerton syndrome, after one of the many memorable figures in out national gallimaufray of scholarly eccentrics. John Pinkerton (1758–1826), poet, critic, historian, dramatist and Celtophobe, in 1786 produced a book, entitled Ancient Scotish Poems, never before in print: […]

Reader, Gentle or ungentle, I write to all, knowing that all have now got almoſt an equall ſhare and intereſt in this Gallimaufry or Hotchpot which our Grandee Pſeudo-Politicians with their negative and demoliſhing Councils have made, both of Church and Commonwealth: […]

We frankly confeſs, that a different ſpecies of ſolicitude is, in the preſent inſtance, excited in us, as Britiſh Critics; a ſolicitude for the credit of the compiler, a ſolicitude for the honour of his countrymen, on account of this crude, incongruous, farrago; this gallimaufry of Scottiſh antiquarianiſm.

[William] Shakespeare's early comedies are a gallimaufry of experiments, but each plays its part in the gradual conquest of the medium, the increasing mastery of its complex expressive capacities.

Word Forms

• gallimaufries
• gallimaufray
• gallimaufrey

Synonyms for gallimaufry

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When Should You Use Gallimaufry?

Use gallimaufry when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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