shambles

/ ˈʃæmbəlz /

noun

1. a place of great disorder

   the room was a shambles after the party

2. a place where animals are brought to be slaughtered
3. any place of slaughter or carnage
4. dialect.
   a row of covered stalls or shops where goods, originally meat, are sold

Word History and Origins

Origin of shambles¹

C14 shamble table used by meat vendors, from Old English sceamel stool, from Late Latin scamellum a small bench, from Latin scamnum stool

Example Sentences

Biden, like Obama and Bill Clinton before him, was faced with the challenge of rescuing an economy that his Republican predecessor had left in shambles.

From Salon

BBC Sport’s Chris Sutton described it as a "brain freeze", former Leeds forward Lucy Ward said on TNT it was a "shambles" and "farcical", while ex-England striker Peter Crouch called it a "moment of madness".

From BBC

It was an utter shambles of a drill.

From BBC

All along we were watching Lois’ coma dream, and she wakes up to a life in shambles.

From Salon

Millions of customers, surfers and bathers have joined a chorus that former pop star Feargal Sharkey has been singing for years - that the sector is a “chaotic shambles”.

From BBC

Related Words

• disarray