Definitions
Wiktionary
- adj. Secret; clandestine; sly.
- adj. Confused; disorderly; slovenly; mean; as, hugger-mugger doings.
Etymologies
- The origin of hugger-mugger is unknown; perhaps it is from Anglo-Irish cuggermugger, a whispering, a low-voiced gossiping, from Irish cogair, whisper. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“An old editor of mine in Providence used to call these kinds of stories the huggermugger.”
“Children, grandparents and others lived huggermugger in the cramped rooms, so couples adjourned to the woods for privacy.”
“I remember her saying that, though her father was a very hard-worked doctor, and often had to take meals quickly and at odd times, he made it an absolute rule, no matter how busy he was, never to get into a rush, or be fussed, or do things in a huggermugger way.”
“The reply to the invitation, in the domain of applied ethics, is the revived and reinforced _Sklavenmoral_ that besets all of us of English speech -- the huggermugger morality of timorous, whining, unintelligent and unimaginative men -- envy turned into law, cowardice sanctified, stupidity made noble, Puritanism.”
“Catherine, death comes to all, and yonder in the church-yard the poor dead lie together, huggermugger, and a man may not tell an archbishop from a rag-picker.”
“As regards the name, I dare say it was something huggermugger in the mere sound -- something that I classed, for no particular reason, with the dark and ignorant sort of words, such as”
“But what shall he do when pietists and other such cows from Suabia25 use the "finger of God" to convert their miserably commonplace and huggermugger existence into a miracle of "grace," a "providence" and an "experience of salvation".”
“Here I was allowed to sit by the fire for a few minutes to dry myself, after which I went off in the dark and rain to arrange billets for the Bn. Of course this is not really my business, but everything was so huggermugger that I thought I should get matters along that way.”
“Suabia [25] use the "finger of God" to convert their miserably commonplace and huggermugger existence into a miracle of "grace," a”
“Many things have been done in huggermugger in our age, profane persons conceited that their privacy protected them from Divine inspection.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘huggermugger’.
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rfb's Words
verschlimmbessern, schnabulieren, absahnen, gebauchpinselt, frostbeule, formulediarree, flabbergasted, beeumeln, schmusekater, hausse, dose, knorke and 197 more...
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ulyssean
... as in "by James Joyce"
stately, plump, aloft, gurgling, untonsured, chrysostomos, jowl, parapet, jesuit, indigestion, scutter, noserag and 688 more...
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stpeter's Words
abase, abasement, abashed, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abhorrent, abide, abject, ablation, abnegation and 3536 more...
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kenspeckle's Words
kenspeckle, milquetoast, effluvium, kaboom, maelstrom, ennui, alpenglow, defenestration, schadenfreude, autochthonous, obstreperous, lachrymose and 124 more...
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Kaichi's Wordie Darlings, or I'm a Lo...
persnickety, discombobulated, braggadoccio, anthropomorphous, antelucan, confluxible, anomalous, poseur, gallivant, poppycock, falderal, gewgaw and 705 more...
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Ulysses
This is a list of the more difficult English words found in James Joyce's Ulysses. It will continually be updated as I read along. The list is in reverse chronological order, meaning that the last ...
equine, untonsured, corpuscle, prelate, parapet, dactyl, jejune, lancet, jalap, barbican, valise, dewsilky and 377 more...
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Skot's Words
huggermugger, dremel, derogate, snood, barony, filch, salacious, verdant, dongle, vertiginous, slender, axiom and 30 more...
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Notepad
Things I want to remember for later.
recherche, tatterdemalion, lorgnette, hardihood, frippery, mountebank, gewgaw, slumbrous, spatterdashes, callithump, obfuscatory, supererogatory and 58 more...
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Funny Words
Funny sounding words
befuddled, gizmo, teeter-totter, lollygag, cahoots, whippersnapper, kitty-corner, shenanigan, skedaddle, tomfoolery, hornswoggle, humdinger and 38 more...
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Distinctly British
Mostly but not limited to slang and some cockney guffy wibble
haberdashery, coventry, knackered, cack-handed, bate, bimble, blag, boffin, bonce, brolly, busk, cack and 71 more...
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mi piace
bamboozle, chicanery, liquescent, scrimshank, quisling, quibble, barmy, ninja, shivaree, brouhaha, huggermugger, supergrass
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Hunger mugger
Words used in the board game and in life that I have to look up
Tweets
Looking for tweets for huggermugger.

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