crazy quilt
Americannoun
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a patchwork quilt made of irregular patches combined with little or no regard to pattern.
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something that is irregular in pattern or shape, and suggestive of a crazy quilt; patchwork.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of crazy quilt
An Americanism dating back to 1885–90
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.
Several of the Founding Fathers—and nearly everyone around them—devoured Laurence Sterne’s crazy quilt of a tale.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 9, 2026
Even so, this is an irresistible crazy quilt of Western history.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 25, 2022
Such rules might feel like another patch on the country’s crazy quilt of COVID-19 rules for diners, but experts say they serve two purposes.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 5, 2021
After watching an introductory film, visitors browse treasures, including an 1885 crazy quilt made by the Jewish Ladies’ Sewing Circle in Canton, Miss., who raffled it off to fund its local synagogue.
From Washington Post • Jul. 21, 2021
I peeked out my one window to be greeted by a sky like a gray flannel crazy quilt.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
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.
