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Synonyms

farrago

American  
[fuh-rah-goh, -rey-] / fəˈrɑ goʊ, -ˈreɪ- /

noun

plural

farragoes
  1. a confused mixture; hodgepodge; medley.

    a farrago of doubts, fears, hopes, and wishes.


farrago British  
/ fəˈrædʒɪnəs, fəˈrɑːɡəʊ /

noun

  1. a hotchpotch

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • farraginous adjective

Etymology

Origin of farrago

1625–35; < Latin: literally, mixed crop of feed grains, equivalent to farr- (stem of far ) emmer + -āgō suffix noting kind or nature

Explanation

A farrago is a pile of odds and ends or a random assortment of stuff. If your teacher said your paper was a farrago of thoughts, that's not good: a farrago is a disorganized mix of things that don't fit together. Farrago sounds more formal than hodgepodge or mishmash, but it means about the same thing. A flea market usually features a farrago of antiques and old junk. And kids get a farrago of treats — chocolates, lollipops, the occasional box of raisins — on Halloween.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing farrago

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The latter, featuring long pasta tubes with a farrago of bold seasonings, inspired me to try Ms. Moyer-Nocchi’s recipe.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 13, 2026

The Rangers midfield has been a disorganised mess and the farrago around Nico Raskin continues.

From BBC • Aug. 30, 2025

This farrago of nonsense was ridiculed by critics, yet was a considerable best seller, his last.

From New York Times • Dec. 31, 2021

The comparison doesn’t exactly flatter Pearce’s movie, an uneven farrago of science-fiction thriller and child abduction drama just about held together by Ahmed’s forceful and committed performance as a man teetering on the brink.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 3, 2021

Quicquid agunt homines nostri farrago libelli, is the general motto of this department of literature.

From Hazlitt on English Literature An Introduction to the Appreciation of Literature by Zeitlin, Jacob