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

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

Johnson replied: "Absolutely nothing. If there's one thing I object in this whole farrago of nonsense ... I love John Lewis!"

From Reuters • Apr. 29, 2021

Her finely-moulded head contained a strange farrago of fantastic and poetical notions, and for one so illiterate she had a wonderful gift of language.

From The White Hecatomb And other Stories by Scully, W. C. (William Charles)