Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adv. In utter disorder or confusion: "There is something delightfully and liberatingly ludicrous about parading higgledy-piggledy in a line of walkers of all shapes and sizes” ( Christa Worthington).
- adj. Topsy-turvy; jumbled.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- In confusion; in a disorderly manner; topsy-turvy.
- Confused; tumbled; disorderly.
- n. Confusion; disorder.
Wiktionary
- adj. In utter disorder or confusion; mixed up.
- adv. In a confused, disordered, or random way.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adv. In confusion; topsy-turvy.
WordNet 3.0
- adv. in a disordered manner
- adj. in utter disorder
Etymologies
- Origin unknown.
Examples
“This once "higgledy-piggledy" historic home in the Township of Morris, N.J., was given a more coherent layout by the current owners.”
“Turpin Real Estate Ms. Higgins said the additions that were tacked on over the years by previous owners made the house 'a little higgledy-piggledy.”
“At the York complex, manufacturing operations that used to be spread higgledy-piggledy around more than 20 buildings have been funneled into one main factory.”
The Wall Street Journal: Harley, With Macho Intact, Tries to Court More Women
“It is a classic Gehry structure, formed from undulating polished steel and tumbling blocks of brushed aluminium that reminds Berners-Lee, he tells me, of the higgledy-piggledy Italian village one of his relatives grew up in.”
The Guardian: The MIT factor: celebrating 150 years of maverick genius
“Your room is a little higgledy-piggledy and could use a bit of tailored neatness.”
“At the moment I have left the list higgledy-piggledy, like a jumble sale of books, as it appealed to me that way.”
“I mean to level the skyline, modernising the structure; it has a disorganised higgledy-piggledy feel at the moment—not surprising, as it has been rebuilt relentlessly during the last eight centuries.”
“In the previous post I ran through the precedents of the story, but sticking all of those ideas together higgledy-piggledy would be a mess.”
“Back in the 1990s a friend, tired of the usual fan's attempts to bring about victory for Middlesbrough using the paraphernalia of lucky clothing and the like and, to be honest, during the higgledy-piggledy reign of Bryan Robson even Imelda Marcos would have exhausted her wardrobe in pursuit of something that would halt a post‑Christmas slump, determined on what appeared a foolproof scheme – a retrospectively effective charm.”
The Guardian: The winning secret of Sir Alex Ferguson's lucky underpants | Harry Pearson
“A crowded convention center floor, clearly, is not place to display or look at art works, mixed higgledy-piggledy with thousands of others, all of wildly divergent quality which ranges from the schlockiest of schlock to the occasional surprising new discovery or the familiar masterpiece.”
The Huffington Post: Peter Clothier: At The 2011 Los Angeles Art Fair: Yisrael K Feldsott
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘higgledy-piggledy’.
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Mobying Along
looks like there's not an open Moby Dick list. So now there is.
hypos, Manhattoes, circumambulate, mole, grapnels, bowsprit, asphaltic, mazy, tranced, cataract, ungraspable, judgmatically and 227 more...
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The weird, the wonderful and the plain hilarious
Loved for their ingenuity, an exact description, or simply for the pure joy of it.
acidulous, aprosdoketon, higgledy-piggledy, lexicographical, ninja, audacious, somnabulist, shivaree, amorphous, quidnunc, glib, melancholy and 353 more...
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Reduples
Go for it, brothers and sisters! I personally have been suffering long for lack of an open reduplicatives list
happy clappy, bribble-brabble, diddle-daddle, hugger-mugger, kikiriki, Bora-Bora, mahi-mahi, jingle-jangle, knick-knack paddy..., chit-chat, bon-bon, clapperclaw and 286 more...
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Choi inspired
Fun words my friend loves and others I introduced to him.
Namby-pamby, Niminy piminy, Nitpick, Nit-wit, Piggly-wiggly, Ping-pong, Pitter-patter, Raggle-taggle, Riff-raff, zoot suit, zig-zag, wishy-washy and 73 more...
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Swine
For more aporkalyptic fun, see madmouth's Everything's better with a pig in it.
For "references to the Dursleys in Wizard People, Dear Reader, Brad Neely's cosmos-shattering voiceover ...swine, pig, hog, boar, pork, pork bellies, hog cholera, swineherd, pigsty, swine flu, oink, pig in a blanket and 185 more...
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words i enjoy
wiggly-waggley, higgledy-piggledy, artsy-fartsy, clip-clop, fancy-shmancy, handy-andy, hanky-panky, heebie-jeebies, hoity-toity, hoochy koochy, hurdy-gurdy, bee's knees and 10 more...
jeromicito Comment about Edinburgh on Digg referring to a video of Danny McAskill riding over, through, and beyond your wildest dreams. Jan 1, 2010
yarb We theatrical ladies are no slaves to form, but live higgledy-piggledy with the men.
- Lesage, The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane, tr. Smollett, bk 3 ch. 5 Sep 13, 2008
sionnach At a party where she (Dorothy Parker) was seated with Somerset Maugham, the author asked if she would write a poem for him. "I will if you like," Miss Parker said, and scribbled out:
Higgledy Piggledy, my white hen;
She lays eggs for gentlemen.
"Yes, I've always liked those lines," Mr. Maugham commented.
Miss Parker bestowed a cool smile and without an instant's hesitation added:
You cannot persuade her with a gun or lariat;
To come across for the proletariat.
Feb 6, 2008