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.

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farrago British  

/ fəˈrædʒɪnəs, fəˈrɑːɡəʊ /

noun

1. a hotchpotch

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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.

Example Sentences

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

Not even strong performances by Reneé Rapp and Auli’i Cravalho can breathe sufficient life into this fan-servicing farrago.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 12, 2024

The play on which this dead-serious farrago is based was written by Victorien Sardou, the reigning French master of theatrical sensation, who was also the source for Puccini’s “Tosca” around the same time.

From New York Times • Jan. 1, 2023

On a trip to a London school, Mr Johnson joked that this was "the one thing I object to in this whole farrago of nonsense", adding: "I love John Lewis."

From BBC • Apr. 29, 2021

Out of all the farrago that he listened to, all that he could collect was, "that he was one of those fellows that the chiefs always hated and invariably crushed."

From Tony Butler by Lever, Charles James