Higgledy-piggledy

/ˈhɪɡəldiˌpɪɡəldi/ · adjective

Meaning

(slang) In utter disorder or confusion; mixed up..

Definitions by Sense

1. (slang) In utter disorder or confusion; mixed up.
2. (slang) In a confused, disordered, or random way.
3. A disordered jumble; a confusion.
4. A double-dactyl; a short poem with eight lines in dactylic meter.
5. Any of various word games using rhyming compounds or dactylic words or phrases.

Example Sentences

I can't find your memo since my desk is all higgledy-piggledy.

The houses of the central village were quite unlike the casual and higgledy-piggledy agglomeration of the mountain villages he knew.

For many years we have all known that the executive and administrative departments of the Government in Washington are a higgledy-piggledy patchwork of duplicate responsibilities and overlapping powers.

The world is a higgledy-piggledy place, with things pleasant and unpleasant occurring in no particular sequence.

Breyer was not so direct, but was plainly uncomfortable with the state’s “higgledy-piggledy” reading, which he compared unfavorably to Gallardo’s request that the court interpret the provisions “consistently with the whole spirit of the thing, which is to leave the money with the Medicaid victim.”

There is no kind of arrangement as regards the buildings they are erected "higgledy-piggledy;" backs to fronts, anyhow, with narrow passages between.

A Higgledy-Piggledy of Controversies and Opinions on various intereſting Subjects

Higgledy-piggledies are more sophisticated than clerihews: they comprise double dactyls and rhymes and aren't always biographical.

Synonyms for higgledy-piggledy

Antonyms for higgledy-piggledy

Related Words

Word Forms

• more higgledy-piggledy
• most higgledy-piggledy
• higgledypiggledy
• hoggledy-piggledy
• hoggledy-poggledy
• huggledy-piggledy
• higgledy-piggledies

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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