"shambolic" meaning in English

See shambolic in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

IPA: /ʃamˈbɒlɪk/ [Received-Pronunciation], /(ˌ)ʃæmˈbɑlɪk/ [General-American], /ʃæmˈbɔlɪk/ [General-Australian] Audio: en-au-shambolic.ogg [Australia] Forms: more shambolic [comparative], most shambolic [superlative]
enPR: shăm(')bŏlʹĭk Rhymes: -ɒlɪk Etymology: Perhaps from shambles + -o- + -ic, in which the interconsonantal -o- avoids the /mbl/ consonant cluster. Possibly influenced by symbolic. Alternatively, and more likely, a blend of shambles + symbolic. Etymology templates: {{af|en|shambles|-o-|-ic|pos4=adjective}} shambles + -o- + -ic, {{m|en|-o-}} -o-, {{m|en|symbolic}} symbolic, {{blend|en|shambles|symbolic|nocap=1}} blend of shambles + symbolic Head templates: {{en-adj}} shambolic (comparative more shambolic, superlative most shambolic)
  1. Chaotic, disorganised or mismanaged. Derived forms: shambolically, shambolism Related terms: omnishambles, sham, shambles Translations (chaotic): caótico (Galician), kusza (Hungarian), kaotikus (Hungarian), kūnakunaku (Maori), kaumingomingo (Maori), caótico (Portuguese), caótico (Spanish)

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for shambolic meaning in English (5.7kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "shambles",
        "3": "-o-",
        "4": "-ic",
        "pos4": "adjective"
      },
      "expansion": "shambles + -o- + -ic",
      "name": "af"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "-o-"
      },
      "expansion": "-o-",
      "name": "m"
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "symbolic"
      },
      "expansion": "symbolic",
      "name": "m"
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    {
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        "1": "en",
        "2": "shambles",
        "3": "symbolic",
        "nocap": "1"
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      "expansion": "blend of shambles + symbolic",
      "name": "blend"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Perhaps from shambles + -o- + -ic, in which the interconsonantal -o- avoids the /mbl/ consonant cluster. Possibly influenced by symbolic.\nAlternatively, and more likely, a blend of shambles + symbolic.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more shambolic",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most shambolic",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
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  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "shambolic (comparative more shambolic, superlative most shambolic)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "sham‧bol‧ic"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English blends",
          "parents": [],
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms suffixed with -ic",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "shambolically"
        },
        {
          "word": "shambolism"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1952 April 19, The Tank, volume 34, number 396, London, page 231",
          "text": "[O]ne must admit there were those among us who were somewhat on the shambolic side.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1958 December 5, “'Pavilion Would Help Clubs'”, in West Sussex County Times, Horsham, page 6",
          "text": "He said his club had coined a new word 'Shambolic,' which meant spending more time watching the weather than playing.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1994, Timothy O'Riordan, James Cameron, “The History and Contemporary Significance of the Precautionary Principle”, in Tim O'Riordan, James Cameron, editors, Interpreting the Precautionary Principle, London: Earthscan, page 12",
          "text": "The precautionary principle is a culturally framed concept that takes its cue from changing social conceptions about the appropriate roles of science, economics, ethics, politics and the law in pro-active environmental protection and management. As this book will reveal, it is a rather shambolic concept, muddled in policy advice and subject to the whims of international diplomacy and the unpredictable public mood over the true cost of sustainable living.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2000, China Miéville, Perdido Street Station, London: Macmillan Publishers, page 24",
          "text": "The pub was empty of all but the most dedicated drinkers, shambolic figures huddled over bottles.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2013, Philip Murphy, “Winds of Change and the Royal Family”, in Monarchy and the End of Empire: The House of Windsor, the British Government, and the Postwar Commonwealth, Oxford: Oxford University Press, page 66",
          "text": "The shabby subterfuge surrounding Suez [the Suez Crisis], as much as its shambolic aftermath, have made it a symbol of the collapse of British global power in the post-war era.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2014 October 22, Graham Michael Barton, “Distribution”, in Show Me the Money: Where Did All the Aid and Money Go after Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines November 2013, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, page 5",
          "text": "During normal times, distribution of goods or services to over 7,000 islands [in the Philippines] is difficult, and the reality is that on a day-to-day basis, it's shambolic. There are too many examples of corruption and inefficiency.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2020 May 6, Sir Michael Holden, “Time for our industry's leaders to rise to the challenge”, in Rail, page 28",
          "text": "New train introduction had become shambolic with extended delays - mainly due to repeated software issues, seriously late deliveries, and gauging problems.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2020 September 28, New York Times Editorial Board, “The Picture of a Broken Tax System”, in New York Times",
          "text": "Donald Trump’s tax returns illustrate the profound inequities of the tax code and the shambolic state of federal enforcement.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Chaotic, disorganised or mismanaged."
      ],
      "id": "en-shambolic-en-adj-phv6ZRYU",
      "links": [
        [
          "Chaotic",
          "chaotic"
        ],
        [
          "disorganised",
          "disorganised"
        ],
        [
          "mismanaged",
          "mismanaged"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "omnishambles"
        },
        {
          "word": "sham"
        },
        {
          "word": "shambles"
        }
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "gl",
          "lang": "Galician",
          "sense": "chaotic",
          "word": "caótico"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "chaotic",
          "word": "kusza"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "chaotic",
          "word": "kaotikus"
        },
        {
          "code": "mi",
          "lang": "Maori",
          "sense": "chaotic",
          "word": "kūnakunaku"
        },
        {
          "code": "mi",
          "lang": "Maori",
          "sense": "chaotic",
          "word": "kaumingomingo"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "chaotic",
          "word": "caótico"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "chaotic",
          "word": "caótico"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ʃamˈbɒlɪk/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/(ˌ)ʃæmˈbɑlɪk/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ʃæmˈbɔlɪk/",
      "tags": [
        "General-Australian"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɒlɪk"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-shambolic.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/ab/En-au-shambolic.ogg/En-au-shambolic.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/En-au-shambolic.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "shăm(')bŏlʹĭk"
    }
  ],
  "word": "shambolic"
}
{
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "shambolically"
    },
    {
      "word": "shambolism"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
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      "args": {
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        "2": "shambles",
        "3": "-o-",
        "4": "-ic",
        "pos4": "adjective"
      },
      "expansion": "shambles + -o- + -ic",
      "name": "af"
    },
    {
      "args": {
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        "2": "-o-"
      },
      "expansion": "-o-",
      "name": "m"
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        "2": "symbolic"
      },
      "expansion": "symbolic",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "shambles",
        "3": "symbolic",
        "nocap": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "blend of shambles + symbolic",
      "name": "blend"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Perhaps from shambles + -o- + -ic, in which the interconsonantal -o- avoids the /mbl/ consonant cluster. Possibly influenced by symbolic.\nAlternatively, and more likely, a blend of shambles + symbolic.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more shambolic",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most shambolic",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "shambolic (comparative more shambolic, superlative most shambolic)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "sham‧bol‧ic"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "omnishambles"
    },
    {
      "word": "sham"
    },
    {
      "word": "shambles"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English 3-syllable words",
        "English adjectives",
        "English blends",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English terms interfixed with -o-",
        "English terms suffixed with -ic",
        "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Rhymes:English/ɒlɪk",
        "Rhymes:English/ɒlɪk/3 syllables"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1952 April 19, The Tank, volume 34, number 396, London, page 231",
          "text": "[O]ne must admit there were those among us who were somewhat on the shambolic side.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1958 December 5, “'Pavilion Would Help Clubs'”, in West Sussex County Times, Horsham, page 6",
          "text": "He said his club had coined a new word 'Shambolic,' which meant spending more time watching the weather than playing.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1994, Timothy O'Riordan, James Cameron, “The History and Contemporary Significance of the Precautionary Principle”, in Tim O'Riordan, James Cameron, editors, Interpreting the Precautionary Principle, London: Earthscan, page 12",
          "text": "The precautionary principle is a culturally framed concept that takes its cue from changing social conceptions about the appropriate roles of science, economics, ethics, politics and the law in pro-active environmental protection and management. As this book will reveal, it is a rather shambolic concept, muddled in policy advice and subject to the whims of international diplomacy and the unpredictable public mood over the true cost of sustainable living.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2000, China Miéville, Perdido Street Station, London: Macmillan Publishers, page 24",
          "text": "The pub was empty of all but the most dedicated drinkers, shambolic figures huddled over bottles.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2013, Philip Murphy, “Winds of Change and the Royal Family”, in Monarchy and the End of Empire: The House of Windsor, the British Government, and the Postwar Commonwealth, Oxford: Oxford University Press, page 66",
          "text": "The shabby subterfuge surrounding Suez [the Suez Crisis], as much as its shambolic aftermath, have made it a symbol of the collapse of British global power in the post-war era.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2014 October 22, Graham Michael Barton, “Distribution”, in Show Me the Money: Where Did All the Aid and Money Go after Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines November 2013, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, page 5",
          "text": "During normal times, distribution of goods or services to over 7,000 islands [in the Philippines] is difficult, and the reality is that on a day-to-day basis, it's shambolic. There are too many examples of corruption and inefficiency.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2020 May 6, Sir Michael Holden, “Time for our industry's leaders to rise to the challenge”, in Rail, page 28",
          "text": "New train introduction had become shambolic with extended delays - mainly due to repeated software issues, seriously late deliveries, and gauging problems.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2020 September 28, New York Times Editorial Board, “The Picture of a Broken Tax System”, in New York Times",
          "text": "Donald Trump’s tax returns illustrate the profound inequities of the tax code and the shambolic state of federal enforcement.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Chaotic, disorganised or mismanaged."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Chaotic",
          "chaotic"
        ],
        [
          "disorganised",
          "disorganised"
        ],
        [
          "mismanaged",
          "mismanaged"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ʃamˈbɒlɪk/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/(ˌ)ʃæmˈbɑlɪk/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ʃæmˈbɔlɪk/",
      "tags": [
        "General-Australian"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɒlɪk"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-shambolic.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/ab/En-au-shambolic.ogg/En-au-shambolic.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/En-au-shambolic.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "shăm(')bŏlʹĭk"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "gl",
      "lang": "Galician",
      "sense": "chaotic",
      "word": "caótico"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "chaotic",
      "word": "kusza"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "chaotic",
      "word": "kaotikus"
    },
    {
      "code": "mi",
      "lang": "Maori",
      "sense": "chaotic",
      "word": "kūnakunaku"
    },
    {
      "code": "mi",
      "lang": "Maori",
      "sense": "chaotic",
      "word": "kaumingomingo"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "chaotic",
      "word": "caótico"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "chaotic",
      "word": "caótico"
    }
  ],
  "word": "shambolic"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-20 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (1d5a7d1 and 304864d). 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.

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