Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Informal Dazzling excitement.
- n. Informal Elaborate action or maneuvers designed to deceive an opponent, as in a sports contest.
- n. Informal Extravagant or showy display, as of technique: a lecture that was more razzle-dazzle than substance.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To dazzle and confuse; daze in a sudden or humorous way; bewilder; intoxicate.
- n. A state of dazed confusion or dizziness, as in intoxication.
- n. A revolving platform, with a swift, irregular, swerving motion, on which passengers are carried, for their amusement, at fairs and pleasure-resorts.
Wiktionary
WordNet 3.0
- n. any exciting and complex play intended to confuse (dazzle) the opponent
Etymologies
- Reduplication of dazzle. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“A fraudulent sense of earnestness and of Modernist discovery permeates these confused, formless pictures, in which fake "pentimenti" and searching "expressive" flourishes are applied razzle-dazzle to Norman Rockwell-style portraits.”
The Wall Street Journal: Exploring Spaces And Life's Continuity
“Baby blue Lycra covered in white fishnet, paint, and Swarovski crystals, the result was totally razzle-dazzle, much more Russian, and much more me.”
“Embraer's lack of razzle-dazzle seems to have turned off investors.”
The Wall Street Journal: Embraer Could Sizzle Despite Low Profile
“But even some of his 'lighter' entertainments have dark undercurrents and most of them have genuine depth below the big-budget razzle-dazzle.”
The Huffington Post: Scott Mendelson: On the Inherent Darkness and Pessimism of Steven Spielberg...
“Start a dating service for people over fifty to reclaim the razzle-dazzle in your lifeor your marriage?”
The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted by Elizabeth Berg: Book summary
“New Jersey is hoping to bring a little Las Vegas razzle-dazzle to Atlantic City with a law making it easier to get married on a whim.”
The Wall Street Journal: New Jersey Weddings May Go Vegas Style
“The team have been honing their razzle-dazzle chops over two decades.”
“A relative unknown as money managers go, our magician has also displayed considerable razzle-dazzle in the marketplace in recent years with an awesome exhibition of uncanny market timing.”
The Huffington Post: Dan Dorfman: Abracadabra on Wall Street
“In a world filled with razzle-dazzle toys that light up, spin around, and screech songs about math and Mars, it is hard to make most parents realize the value of a plain old ball, said Ms. Linn.”
The Wall Street Journal: Parents Are Taking the Fun Out of Toys
“The 3-D feature is adjustable by a button at the side so players can choose the amount of 3-D razzle-dazzle they want.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘razzle-dazzle’.
-
old timey talk
Words or Sayings from the 1920's or whatever that no one really uses anymore (at least in that context).
scram, bearcat, heavens to betsy, dick, double-cross, ducky, gams, goofy, hooch, jalopy, john, joe and 174 more...
-
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 292 more...
-
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...
-
unruzuzu
azzurus, zyuzyutu, yuzu, Zhu Zhu, Isuzu, Azzurra Air, Uzhavoor, rizzar, Sununu, Mordechai Vanunu, ruzzle-dozzle, Urzulei and 70 more...
-
Zee's zees
zounds, syzygy, pizzaz, zamzodden, xyzzy, zzzax, ziz, razzamatazz, razzmatazz, zoonosis, syzygy, chutzpah and 11 more...
-
kimo2000's Words
pakalolo, miliated, voodoo, vindaloo, hacienda, acquiesce, addlepated, olio, akimbo, apropos, oogenesis, arugula and 181 more...
-
nominative case collection
wine stopper, pyre, roster, hamper, moleskin, elastic, pinnacle, facsimile, nook, plonk, contortionist, dismay and 342 more...
-
wreckingball's Words
reprehensible, problematize, crepuscular, deleterious, pestilent, strumpet, draggletail, interrobang, meretricious, systematize, schadenfreude, capricious and 443 more...
-
Double Trouble
Reduplicatives and more.
splish-splash, hip-hop, kit-kat, dingaling, hugger-mugger, even-steven, tit for tat, higgledy-piggledy, dilly-dally, boogie-woogie, knick-knack, mai tai and 131 more...
-
sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
-
Odd-Ball
Just plain fun to say and wonder about their origins.
rapscallion, ramahanukwanzmas, cockamamie, nincompoop, hemidemisemiquaver, antiinterdenomina..., cattywampus, ragamuffin, tatterdemalion, blunderbuss, brobdingnagian, tintinnabulation and 127 more...
-
stpeter's Words
abase, abasement, abashed, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abhorrent, abide, abject, ablation, abnegation and 3536 more...
-
Words of Whimsy & Grace
abecedary, addendum, ampersand, anachronism, avuncular, balderdash, barnacle, befuddle, behemoth, bejeebers, blabbermouth, blatherskite and 465 more...
-
deegee's Words
pay-per-view, vitriol, delectable, snarky, unflinching, forsake, pervasive, inconsequential, unnerving, allure, endearing, unalloyed and 414 more...
-
Dewitful
visions of witfulness and vision - a wise guise
revision, advisor, ideal, witty, witness, veda, druid, penguin, hadal, idea, story, history and 269 more...
-
EN - funny (single) words
"Fornication" is not equal to "formication".
Words with funny meaning, spelling or both.biffy, bibcock, barratry, bastinado, bezonian, bibliobibuli, bodewash, boeotian, boondoggle, borborygmic, bosky, brobdingnagian and 729 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for razzle-dazzle.
oroboros whad'ya spoze Pinker'd say 'bout pinking shears? Nov 2, 2007
seanahan Seriously, I'd trust Pinker over my own mother. Nov 2, 2007
reesetee That Pinker. He knows. Nov 2, 2007
sionnach According to Stephen Pinker:
The reason we say "razzle-dazzle" rather than "dazzle-razzle" is because "The word beginning with the less obstruent consonant always comes before the word beginning with the more obstruent consonant." Nov 2, 2007
oroboros lookit all 'em z's Dec 2, 2006