higgledy-piggledy
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /ˈhɪɡəldiˌpɪɡəldi/
Adjective

higgledy-piggledy

  1. In utter disorder or confusion; mixed up.
    I can't find your memo since my desk is all higgledy-piggledy.
    • 1911 — H. G. Wells, The Country of the Blind
      The houses of the central village were quite unlike the casual and higgledy-piggledy agglomeration of the mountain villages he knew.
    • 1937 — Franklin D. Roosevelt, Fireside Chat, 12 October
      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.
    • 1930 — Bertrand Russell, The Conquest of Happiness
      The world is a higgledy-piggledy place, with things pleasant and unpleasant occurring in no particular sequence.
Synonyms Translations Adverb

higgledy-piggledy

  1. In a confused, disordered, or random way.
Synonyms Translations Noun

higgledy-piggledy

  1. A disordered jumble; a confusion.
    • 1779, Thomas Medley, The Shandymonian, subtitle:
      A Higgledy-Piggledy of Controversies and Opinions on various intereſting Subjects
Synonyms Noun

higgledy-piggledy

  1. A double-dactyl; a short poem with eight lines in dactylic meter.
  2. Any of various word games using rhyming compounds or dactylic words or phrases.



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