at sixes and sevens
1
9.9
- idiom
- Informal
:
desordenado
- When the unexpected guests arrived, the party was at sixes and sevens and no one knew what to do.
Examples
-
Whether the linen emporium was at sixes and sevens because the son of the house was missing, he didn't know.
Fiction book (2002) -
"We've been all at sixes and sevens out at the house; even poor Felix had to get tangled up in it."
Fiction book (1995) -
Her ladyship looked ruffled—worse, she looked entirely at sixes and sevens, although the man with the courage to tell her this to her face had not yet been born.
Fiction book (1994) -
The office was at sixes and sevens after the sudden departure of the manager.
-
After the fire drill, the students were at sixes and sevens, trying to figure out where to go next.
Synonyms
283
4.8
In a confused, disorganized way with things or thoughts scattered
82
4.9
Confused and unsure because different ideas or instructions do not agree
18
1.0
Messy and not in order, with things mixed up
1
8.2
A sudden state of confusion and panic that makes someone lose control
In a confused and disorganized state
In a confused, hurried way with no order
With much hurry and disorder
A situation with things all over and people confused
Antonyms
How Disorganized
116
4.7
- Informal
1
9.9
- US
38
3.1
11
1.0
55
2.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
at + sixes + and + sevens
The expression is an idiomatic phrase whose meaning ('in a state of confusion or disorder') is not derivable from the literal constituents 'sixes' and 'sevens' or the preposition 'at'; knowing the words as numbers will not lead a B1 learner to the idiomatic sense. Its historical/etymological origins are obscure and the construction is not a transparent cross-linguistic pattern, so the sense is unpredictable without prior exposure.
Etymology
At sixes and sevens may come from an old dice game where rolls of sixes and sevens upset the play and left everyone confused. So, the phrase came to mean 'in a state of confusion or disorder'.