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Synonyms

farrago

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

noun

farragoes plural
  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

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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.

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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

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

It’s “a farrago of zinger-stocked dialogue, vaudeville-style antics and musical numbers only pretending to co-exist as a coherent plot,” Ben Brantley wrote in his review for The Times.

From New York Times • May 9, 2022

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

I sat and dreamed of you till the farrago about me became unbearable; and whispering a word to my father, I rose and strode away, with a yearning truly mastering.

From The Story of an Untold Love by Ford, Paul Leicester

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