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Glite Dictionary
😵 Confusion or disorder 🌀 Chaotic or messy 🤫 Secretive or hidden 🕵️ To act secretly
hugger-mugger

hugger-mugger

9.9
A state where things are confused and disorganized
  • noun
  • /ˈhʌɡərˌmʌɡər/
  • Archaic
translation icon : secretismo
  • It all sounded hugger-mugger to me.

Examples

  • After the merger, there was a period of hugger-mugger as employees adjusted to the changes.

  • The office was in such a hugger-mugger that no one could find the important documents.

  • Then what is all this unprofessional hugger-mugger (Golda used the English words), sending a personal letter to his daughter in Paris by diplomatic pouch for her to bring here by plane during a war?

    Fiction book (1993)

  • The investigation uncovered a lot of hugger-mugger surrounding the company's finances.

Synonyms

snarl
vshugger-mugger
3 7.7

A confused, complicated situation that is hard to understand

refers to a general state of disorder, not only tangled complexity
topsy-turvyness
vshugger-mugger
  • Archaic
9.4

A state of complete confusion and disorder

includes both confusion and sometimes secrecy as well
dissemblance
vshugger-mugger
9.9

To hide your true feelings or intentions from other people

describes a state of secrecy or disorder rather than a deliberate hiding act

Antonyms

order
∞ 1.0

The arrangement of things in a neat sequence

clarity
152 3.0

How easy it is to understand what someone says or writes

transparency
146 3.7

Being clear so people can see or understand how something works

How Disorderly

chaos
438 3.1
hugger-mugger
  • Archaic
9.9
mess
∞ 1.0
confusion
389 1.8

Surface Forms

hugger-mugger singular
hugger-muggers plural

Etymology

Hugger-mugger comes from an old pair of words that rhyme — hugger + mugger — and was used to mean 'secretly' or 'quietly'; imagine two words pushed together into a messy pile. That's why the noun now often means a state of 'confusion' or secrecy.