higgledy-piggledy
Americanadverb
adjective
adjective
noun
Etymology
Origin of higgledy-piggledy
First recorded in 1590–1600; rhyming compound of uncertain origin
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.
Ukrainians upload a higgledy-piggledy stream of information about Russians killed in the war on several channels on the Telegram messaging application, including the names of the deceased.
From New York Times • Dec. 18, 2022
Moreover, the liver does not just expand higgledy-piggledy in the animals.
From Science Magazine • Nov. 15, 2022
They are now piled, higgledy-piggledy, by my side as I type.
From Washington Post • Mar. 2, 2022
Stage blood and slime are squirted and splattered higgledy-piggledy.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 1, 2016
On a visit there, Elizebeth was shocked to find an important collection of papers “scattered higgledy-piggledy over those iron shelves....I went home and told my husband. We sort of cried on each other's shoulders.”
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
