higgledy-piggledy

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Alternative spellings 1.2 Pronunciation 1.3 Adjective 1.3.1 Quotations 1.3.2 Synonyms 1.3.3 Translations 1.4 Adverb 1.4.1 Quotations 1.4.2 Synonyms 1.4.3 Translations

[edit] English

[edit] Alternative spellings

• higgledypiggledy

[edit] Pronunciation

• IPA: ˈhɪgəldiˌpɪgəldi/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}

[edit] Adjective

higgledy-piggledy (comparative more higgledy-piggledy, superlative most higgledy-piggledy)

1. In utter disorder or confusion; mixed up.

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

[edit] Quotations

• 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.

[edit] Synonyms

• (in disorder): disordered, disorderly, hugger-mugger, jumbled, topsy-turvy

[edit] Translations

[edit] Adverb

higgledy-piggledy (comparative more higgledy-piggledy, superlative most higgledy-piggledy)

1. In a confused, disordered, or random way.

[edit] Quotations

• 1881 — James Greenwood, Low-Life Deeps, ch 11

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

[edit] Synonyms

• (in a disordered way): willy-nilly

[edit] Translations