"higgledy-piggledy" meaning in All languages combined

See higgledy-piggledy on Wiktionary

Adjective [English]

IPA: /ˈhɪɡəldiˌpɪɡəldi/ Audio: en-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg Forms: more higgledy-piggledy [comparative], most higgledy-piggledy [superlative]
Etymology: A reduplicated rhyming compound. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests a possible link to pig, since the animals huddle in irregular groups, but notes that the connection is uncertain. Attested since the late sixteenth century. The first part of the old alternative form, hoggledy-piggledy, may come from archaic Welsh hogldy, a hovel. Etymology templates: {{bor|en|cy|hogldy}} Welsh hogldy Head templates: {{en-adj}} higgledy-piggledy (comparative more higgledy-piggledy, superlative most higgledy-piggledy)
  1. In utter disorder or confusion; mixed up. Synonyms (in disorder): disordered, disorderly, hugger-mugger, jumbled, topsy-turvy, raggle-taggle Derived forms: higgledy Related terms: hodgepodge Translations (in disorder): hujan hajan (Finnish), sikin sokin (Finnish), pêle-mêle (French), en désordre (French), rendetlen (Hungarian), rendezetlen (Hungarian), tōroherohe (Maori), bezładny (Polish)
    Sense id: en-higgledy-piggledy-en-adj-xAaa56kL Categories (other): English coordinated pairs, English entries with incorrect language header, English reduplications, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with Greek translations, Terms with Hungarian translations, Terms with Italian translations, Terms with Korean translations, Terms with Maori translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Swedish translations, Terms with Ukrainian translations Disambiguation of English coordinated pairs: 29 18 21 16 16 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 41 4 3 19 32 Disambiguation of English reduplications: 47 4 6 16 26 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 79 9 11 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 42 3 3 20 32 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 43 2 2 19 33 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 74 9 17 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 76 11 13 Disambiguation of Terms with Greek translations: 66 21 13 Disambiguation of Terms with Hungarian translations: 64 22 13 Disambiguation of Terms with Italian translations: 81 8 11 Disambiguation of Terms with Korean translations: 74 9 17 Disambiguation of Terms with Maori translations: 74 9 17 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 66 17 17 Disambiguation of Terms with Swedish translations: 75 9 16 Disambiguation of Terms with Ukrainian translations: 74 9 17
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: higgledypiggledy, hoggledy-piggledy, hoggledy-poggledy, huggledy-piggledy
Etymology number: 1

Adverb [English]

IPA: /ˈhɪɡəldiˌpɪɡəldi/ Audio: en-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg Forms: more higgledy-piggledy [comparative], most higgledy-piggledy [superlative]
Etymology: A reduplicated rhyming compound. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests a possible link to pig, since the animals huddle in irregular groups, but notes that the connection is uncertain. Attested since the late sixteenth century. The first part of the old alternative form, hoggledy-piggledy, may come from archaic Welsh hogldy, a hovel. Etymology templates: {{bor|en|cy|hogldy}} Welsh hogldy Head templates: {{en-adv}} higgledy-piggledy (comparative more higgledy-piggledy, superlative most higgledy-piggledy)
  1. In a confused, disordered, or random way. Synonyms (in a disordered way): willy-nilly Translations (in a disordered way): pêle-mêle (French), en désordre (French), φύρδην μίγδην (fýrdin mígdin) (Greek), άνω κάτω (áno káto) (Greek), άρτζι μπούρτζι και λουλάς (ártzi boúrtzi kai loulás) (Greek), alla rinfusa (Italian), a catafascio (Italian), 뒤죽박죽 (dwijukbakjuk) (Korean), huller om buller (Swedish), хаотично (xaotyčno) (Ukrainian)
    Sense id: en-higgledy-piggledy-en-adv-kZtMmJvv
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: higgledypiggledy, hoggledy-piggledy, hoggledy-poggledy, huggledy-piggledy
Etymology number: 1

Noun [English]

IPA: /ˈhɪɡəldiˌpɪɡəldi/ Audio: en-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg Forms: higgledy-piggledies [plural]
Etymology: A reduplicated rhyming compound. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests a possible link to pig, since the animals huddle in irregular groups, but notes that the connection is uncertain. Attested since the late sixteenth century. The first part of the old alternative form, hoggledy-piggledy, may come from archaic Welsh hogldy, a hovel. Etymology templates: {{bor|en|cy|hogldy}} Welsh hogldy Head templates: {{en-noun}} higgledy-piggledy (plural higgledy-piggledies)
  1. A disordered jumble; a confusion. Synonyms: hodgepodge
    Sense id: en-higgledy-piggledy-en-noun-~HZm1o8w
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: higgledypiggledy, hoggledy-piggledy, hoggledy-poggledy, huggledy-piggledy
Etymology number: 1

Noun [English]

IPA: /ˈhɪɡəldiˌpɪɡəldi/ Audio: en-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg Forms: higgledy-piggledies [plural]
Etymology: Self-reference to the form of the word higgledy-piggledy. Head templates: {{en-noun}} higgledy-piggledy (plural higgledy-piggledies)
  1. A double-dactyl; a short poem with eight lines in dactylic meter.
    Sense id: en-higgledy-piggledy-en-noun-ZYNEOhVu
  2. Any of various word games using rhyming compounds or dactylic words or phrases. Categories (topical): Games
    Sense id: en-higgledy-piggledy-en-noun-IYJbvSYP Disambiguation of Games: 28 4 15 17 36
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: higgledypiggledy, hoggledy-piggledy, hoggledy-poggledy, huggledy-piggledy
Etymology number: 2

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "cy",
        "3": "hogldy"
      },
      "expansion": "Welsh hogldy",
      "name": "bor"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "A reduplicated rhyming compound. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests a possible link to pig, since the animals huddle in irregular groups, but notes that the connection is uncertain. Attested since the late sixteenth century. The first part of the old alternative form, hoggledy-piggledy, may come from archaic Welsh hogldy, a hovel.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more higgledy-piggledy",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most higgledy-piggledy",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "higgledy-piggledy (comparative more higgledy-piggledy, superlative most higgledy-piggledy)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "29 18 21 16 16",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English coordinated pairs",
          "parents": [
            "Coordinated pairs",
            "Terms by etymology"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "41 4 3 19 32",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "47 4 6 16 26",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English reduplications",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "79 9 11",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "42 3 3 20 32",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "43 2 2 19 33",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "74 9 17",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "76 11 13",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "66 21 13",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Greek translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "64 22 13",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Hungarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "81 8 11",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Italian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "74 9 17",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Korean translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "74 9 17",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Maori translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "66 17 17",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "75 9 16",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Swedish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "74 9 17",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Ukrainian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "higgledy"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I can't find your memo since my desk is all higgledy-piggledy.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1911, H. G. Wells, The Country of the Blind:",
          "text": "The houses of the central village were quite unlike the casual and higgledy-piggledy agglomeration of the mountain villages he knew.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1937, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Fireside Chat, 12 October:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1930, Bertrand Russell, The Conquest of Happiness:",
          "text": "The world is a higgledy-piggledy place, with things pleasant and unpleasant occurring in no particular sequence.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022, Ronald Mann, “Justices debate state’s right to take tort recoveries from Medicaid beneficiaries”, in SCOTUSblog, 01-11:",
          "text": "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.”",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In utter disorder or confusion; mixed up."
      ],
      "id": "en-higgledy-piggledy-en-adj-xAaa56kL",
      "links": [
        [
          "disorder",
          "disorder"
        ],
        [
          "confusion",
          "confusion"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "hodgepodge"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "sense": "in disorder",
          "word": "disordered"
        },
        {
          "sense": "in disorder",
          "word": "disorderly"
        },
        {
          "sense": "in disorder",
          "word": "hugger-mugger"
        },
        {
          "sense": "in disorder",
          "word": "jumbled"
        },
        {
          "sense": "in disorder",
          "word": "topsy-turvy"
        },
        {
          "sense": "in disorder",
          "word": "raggle-taggle"
        }
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "in disorder",
          "word": "hujan hajan"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "in disorder",
          "word": "sikin sokin"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "in disorder",
          "word": "pêle-mêle"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "in disorder",
          "word": "en désordre"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "in disorder",
          "word": "rendetlen"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "in disorder",
          "word": "rendezetlen"
        },
        {
          "code": "mi",
          "lang": "Maori",
          "sense": "in disorder",
          "word": "tōroherohe"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "in disorder",
          "word": "bezładny"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhɪɡəldiˌpɪɡəldi/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/59/En-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg/En-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/En-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "higgledypiggledy"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "hoggledy-piggledy"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "hoggledy-poggledy"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "huggledy-piggledy"
    }
  ],
  "word": "higgledy-piggledy"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "cy",
        "3": "hogldy"
      },
      "expansion": "Welsh hogldy",
      "name": "bor"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "A reduplicated rhyming compound. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests a possible link to pig, since the animals huddle in irregular groups, but notes that the connection is uncertain. Attested since the late sixteenth century. The first part of the old alternative form, hoggledy-piggledy, may come from archaic Welsh hogldy, a hovel.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more higgledy-piggledy",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most higgledy-piggledy",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "higgledy-piggledy (comparative more higgledy-piggledy, superlative most higgledy-piggledy)",
      "name": "en-adv"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1881, James Greenwood, chapter 11, in Low-Life Deeps:",
          "text": "There is no kind of arrangement as regards the buildings they are erected \"higgledy-piggledy;\" backs to fronts, anyhow, with narrow passages between.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In a confused, disordered, or random way."
      ],
      "id": "en-higgledy-piggledy-en-adv-kZtMmJvv",
      "links": [
        [
          "confused",
          "confused"
        ],
        [
          "disordered",
          "disordered"
        ],
        [
          "random",
          "random"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "sense": "in a disordered way",
          "word": "willy-nilly"
        }
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "in a disordered way",
          "word": "pêle-mêle"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "in a disordered way",
          "word": "en désordre"
        },
        {
          "code": "el",
          "lang": "Greek",
          "roman": "fýrdin mígdin",
          "sense": "in a disordered way",
          "word": "φύρδην μίγδην"
        },
        {
          "code": "el",
          "lang": "Greek",
          "roman": "áno káto",
          "sense": "in a disordered way",
          "word": "άνω κάτω"
        },
        {
          "code": "el",
          "lang": "Greek",
          "roman": "ártzi boúrtzi kai loulás",
          "sense": "in a disordered way",
          "word": "άρτζι μπούρτζι και λουλάς"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "in a disordered way",
          "word": "alla rinfusa"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "in a disordered way",
          "word": "a catafascio"
        },
        {
          "code": "ko",
          "lang": "Korean",
          "roman": "dwijukbakjuk",
          "sense": "in a disordered way",
          "word": "뒤죽박죽"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "in a disordered way",
          "word": "huller om buller"
        },
        {
          "code": "uk",
          "lang": "Ukrainian",
          "roman": "xaotyčno",
          "sense": "in a disordered way",
          "word": "хаотично"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhɪɡəldiˌpɪɡəldi/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/59/En-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg/En-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/En-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "higgledypiggledy"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "hoggledy-piggledy"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "hoggledy-poggledy"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "huggledy-piggledy"
    }
  ],
  "word": "higgledy-piggledy"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "cy",
        "3": "hogldy"
      },
      "expansion": "Welsh hogldy",
      "name": "bor"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "A reduplicated rhyming compound. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests a possible link to pig, since the animals huddle in irregular groups, but notes that the connection is uncertain. Attested since the late sixteenth century. The first part of the old alternative form, hoggledy-piggledy, may come from archaic Welsh hogldy, a hovel.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "higgledy-piggledies",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "higgledy-piggledy (plural higgledy-piggledies)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1779, Thomas Medley, The Shandymonian, subtitle:",
          "text": "A Higgledy-Piggledy of Controversies and Opinions on various intereſting Subjects",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A disordered jumble; a confusion."
      ],
      "id": "en-higgledy-piggledy-en-noun-~HZm1o8w",
      "links": [
        [
          "jumble",
          "jumble"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "hodgepodge"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhɪɡəldiˌpɪɡəldi/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/59/En-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg/En-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/En-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "higgledypiggledy"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "hoggledy-piggledy"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "hoggledy-poggledy"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "huggledy-piggledy"
    }
  ],
  "word": "higgledy-piggledy"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_text": "Self-reference to the form of the word higgledy-piggledy.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "higgledy-piggledies",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "higgledy-piggledy (plural higgledy-piggledies)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1980, Gyles Brandreth, The Joy of Lex, page 123:",
          "text": "Higgledy-piggledies are more sophisticated than clerihews: they comprise double dactyls and rhymes and aren't always biographical.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A double-dactyl; a short poem with eight lines in dactylic meter."
      ],
      "id": "en-higgledy-piggledy-en-noun-ZYNEOhVu",
      "links": [
        [
          "double-dactyl",
          "double-dactyl"
        ],
        [
          "dactylic",
          "dactylic"
        ],
        [
          "meter",
          "meter"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "28 4 15 17 36",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Games",
          "orig": "en:Games",
          "parents": [
            "Recreation",
            "Human activity",
            "Human behaviour",
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1994, Herbert Kohl, Masters' Word Game Collection, page 249:",
          "text": "The games are a bit archaically presented, but they include palindromes, acrostics, higgledy-piggledies, anagrams, etc.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any of various word games using rhyming compounds or dactylic words or phrases."
      ],
      "id": "en-higgledy-piggledy-en-noun-IYJbvSYP",
      "links": [
        [
          "word game",
          "word game"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhɪɡəldiˌpɪɡəldi/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/59/En-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg/En-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/En-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "higgledypiggledy"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "hoggledy-piggledy"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "hoggledy-poggledy"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "huggledy-piggledy"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Higgledy piggledy"
  ],
  "word": "higgledy-piggledy"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English adjectives",
    "English adverbs",
    "English coordinated pairs",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English reduplications",
    "English rhyming phrases",
    "English terms borrowed from Welsh",
    "English terms derived from Welsh",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with Greek translations",
    "Terms with Hungarian translations",
    "Terms with Italian translations",
    "Terms with Korean translations",
    "Terms with Maori translations",
    "Terms with Polish translations",
    "Terms with Swedish translations",
    "Terms with Ukrainian translations",
    "en:Games"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "higgledy"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "cy",
        "3": "hogldy"
      },
      "expansion": "Welsh hogldy",
      "name": "bor"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "A reduplicated rhyming compound. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests a possible link to pig, since the animals huddle in irregular groups, but notes that the connection is uncertain. Attested since the late sixteenth century. The first part of the old alternative form, hoggledy-piggledy, may come from archaic Welsh hogldy, a hovel.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more higgledy-piggledy",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most higgledy-piggledy",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "higgledy-piggledy (comparative more higgledy-piggledy, superlative most higgledy-piggledy)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "hodgepodge"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I can't find your memo since my desk is all higgledy-piggledy.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1911, H. G. Wells, The Country of the Blind:",
          "text": "The houses of the central village were quite unlike the casual and higgledy-piggledy agglomeration of the mountain villages he knew.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1937, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Fireside Chat, 12 October:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1930, Bertrand Russell, The Conquest of Happiness:",
          "text": "The world is a higgledy-piggledy place, with things pleasant and unpleasant occurring in no particular sequence.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022, Ronald Mann, “Justices debate state’s right to take tort recoveries from Medicaid beneficiaries”, in SCOTUSblog, 01-11:",
          "text": "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.”",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In utter disorder or confusion; mixed up."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "disorder",
          "disorder"
        ],
        [
          "confusion",
          "confusion"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhɪɡəldiˌpɪɡəldi/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/59/En-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg/En-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/En-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "sense": "in disorder",
      "word": "disordered"
    },
    {
      "sense": "in disorder",
      "word": "disorderly"
    },
    {
      "sense": "in disorder",
      "word": "hugger-mugger"
    },
    {
      "sense": "in disorder",
      "word": "jumbled"
    },
    {
      "sense": "in disorder",
      "word": "topsy-turvy"
    },
    {
      "sense": "in disorder",
      "word": "raggle-taggle"
    },
    {
      "word": "higgledypiggledy"
    },
    {
      "word": "hoggledy-piggledy"
    },
    {
      "word": "hoggledy-poggledy"
    },
    {
      "word": "huggledy-piggledy"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "in disorder",
      "word": "hujan hajan"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "in disorder",
      "word": "sikin sokin"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "in disorder",
      "word": "pêle-mêle"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "in disorder",
      "word": "en désordre"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "in disorder",
      "word": "rendetlen"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "in disorder",
      "word": "rendezetlen"
    },
    {
      "code": "mi",
      "lang": "Maori",
      "sense": "in disorder",
      "word": "tōroherohe"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "in disorder",
      "word": "bezładny"
    }
  ],
  "word": "higgledy-piggledy"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English adjectives",
    "English adverbs",
    "English coordinated pairs",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English reduplications",
    "English rhyming phrases",
    "English terms borrowed from Welsh",
    "English terms derived from Welsh",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with Greek translations",
    "Terms with Hungarian translations",
    "Terms with Italian translations",
    "Terms with Korean translations",
    "Terms with Maori translations",
    "Terms with Polish translations",
    "Terms with Swedish translations",
    "Terms with Ukrainian translations",
    "en:Games"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "cy",
        "3": "hogldy"
      },
      "expansion": "Welsh hogldy",
      "name": "bor"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "A reduplicated rhyming compound. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests a possible link to pig, since the animals huddle in irregular groups, but notes that the connection is uncertain. Attested since the late sixteenth century. The first part of the old alternative form, hoggledy-piggledy, may come from archaic Welsh hogldy, a hovel.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more higgledy-piggledy",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most higgledy-piggledy",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "higgledy-piggledy (comparative more higgledy-piggledy, superlative most higgledy-piggledy)",
      "name": "en-adv"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1881, James Greenwood, chapter 11, in Low-Life Deeps:",
          "text": "There is no kind of arrangement as regards the buildings they are erected \"higgledy-piggledy;\" backs to fronts, anyhow, with narrow passages between.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In a confused, disordered, or random way."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "confused",
          "confused"
        ],
        [
          "disordered",
          "disordered"
        ],
        [
          "random",
          "random"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhɪɡəldiˌpɪɡəldi/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/59/En-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg/En-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/En-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "sense": "in a disordered way",
      "word": "willy-nilly"
    },
    {
      "word": "higgledypiggledy"
    },
    {
      "word": "hoggledy-piggledy"
    },
    {
      "word": "hoggledy-poggledy"
    },
    {
      "word": "huggledy-piggledy"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "in a disordered way",
      "word": "pêle-mêle"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "in a disordered way",
      "word": "en désordre"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "fýrdin mígdin",
      "sense": "in a disordered way",
      "word": "φύρδην μίγδην"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "áno káto",
      "sense": "in a disordered way",
      "word": "άνω κάτω"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "ártzi boúrtzi kai loulás",
      "sense": "in a disordered way",
      "word": "άρτζι μπούρτζι και λουλάς"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "in a disordered way",
      "word": "alla rinfusa"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "in a disordered way",
      "word": "a catafascio"
    },
    {
      "code": "ko",
      "lang": "Korean",
      "roman": "dwijukbakjuk",
      "sense": "in a disordered way",
      "word": "뒤죽박죽"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "in a disordered way",
      "word": "huller om buller"
    },
    {
      "code": "uk",
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "roman": "xaotyčno",
      "sense": "in a disordered way",
      "word": "хаотично"
    }
  ],
  "word": "higgledy-piggledy"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English adjectives",
    "English adverbs",
    "English coordinated pairs",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English reduplications",
    "English rhyming phrases",
    "English terms borrowed from Welsh",
    "English terms derived from Welsh",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with Greek translations",
    "Terms with Hungarian translations",
    "Terms with Italian translations",
    "Terms with Korean translations",
    "Terms with Maori translations",
    "Terms with Polish translations",
    "Terms with Swedish translations",
    "Terms with Ukrainian translations",
    "en:Games"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "cy",
        "3": "hogldy"
      },
      "expansion": "Welsh hogldy",
      "name": "bor"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "A reduplicated rhyming compound. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests a possible link to pig, since the animals huddle in irregular groups, but notes that the connection is uncertain. Attested since the late sixteenth century. The first part of the old alternative form, hoggledy-piggledy, may come from archaic Welsh hogldy, a hovel.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "higgledy-piggledies",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "higgledy-piggledy (plural higgledy-piggledies)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1779, Thomas Medley, The Shandymonian, subtitle:",
          "text": "A Higgledy-Piggledy of Controversies and Opinions on various intereſting Subjects",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A disordered jumble; a confusion."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "jumble",
          "jumble"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhɪɡəldiˌpɪɡəldi/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/59/En-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg/En-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/En-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "hodgepodge"
    },
    {
      "word": "higgledypiggledy"
    },
    {
      "word": "hoggledy-piggledy"
    },
    {
      "word": "hoggledy-poggledy"
    },
    {
      "word": "huggledy-piggledy"
    }
  ],
  "word": "higgledy-piggledy"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English coordinated pairs",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English reduplications",
    "English rhyming phrases",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "en:Games"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_text": "Self-reference to the form of the word higgledy-piggledy.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "higgledy-piggledies",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "higgledy-piggledy (plural higgledy-piggledies)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1980, Gyles Brandreth, The Joy of Lex, page 123:",
          "text": "Higgledy-piggledies are more sophisticated than clerihews: they comprise double dactyls and rhymes and aren't always biographical.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A double-dactyl; a short poem with eight lines in dactylic meter."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "double-dactyl",
          "double-dactyl"
        ],
        [
          "dactylic",
          "dactylic"
        ],
        [
          "meter",
          "meter"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1994, Herbert Kohl, Masters' Word Game Collection, page 249:",
          "text": "The games are a bit archaically presented, but they include palindromes, acrostics, higgledy-piggledies, anagrams, etc.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any of various word games using rhyming compounds or dactylic words or phrases."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "word game",
          "word game"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhɪɡəldiˌpɪɡəldi/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/59/En-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg/En-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/En-us-higgledy-piggledy.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "higgledypiggledy"
    },
    {
      "word": "hoggledy-piggledy"
    },
    {
      "word": "hoggledy-poggledy"
    },
    {
      "word": "huggledy-piggledy"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Higgledy piggledy"
  ],
  "word": "higgledy-piggledy"
}

Download raw JSONL data for higgledy-piggledy meaning in All languages combined (12.8kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.