jumble

[juhm-buhl]

verb (used with object)

jumbled, jumbling 

1. to mix in a confused mass; put or throw together without order.

   You've jumbled up all the cards.

   Antonyms: separate

2. to confuse mentally; muddle.

verb (used without object)

jumbled, jumbling 

1. to be mixed together in a disorderly heap or mass.

2. to meet or come together confusedly.

noun

1. a mixed or disordered heap or mass.

   a jumble of paper clips, rubber bands, and string.

2. a confused mixture; medley.

3. a state of confusion or disorder.

   Synonyms: chaos, muddle, mess, gallimaufry, farrago, hodgepodge
   Antonyms: order

4. Also jumbal a small, round, flat cake or cookie with a hole in the middle.

jumble

/ ˈdʒʌmbəl /

verb

1. to mingle (objects, papers, etc) in a state of disorder

2. (tr; usually passive) to remember in a confused form; muddle

noun

1. a disordered mass, state, etc

2. articles donated for a jumble sale

3. Also called: jumbal. a small thin cake, usually ring-shaped

Other Word Forms

• jumblement noun
• jumbler noun
• jumblingly adverb
• unjumbled adjective
• jumbly adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of jumble¹

1520–30; perhaps blend of joll to bump (now dial.) and tumble

Word History and Origins

Origin of jumble¹

C16: of uncertain origin

Example Sentences

Mr. Joseph, an educational-game consultant and a co-founder of the Brooklyn Seltzer Museum, offers a jumble of anecdotes and reflections about Sondheim’s creations.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

In fact, when the painter mounted his own retrospective in Paris in 1932, he hung the works not according to chronology but jumbled together.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

In the architectural age of minimalism and millennial gray, a wild and whimsical antidote made of old clinker bricks and jumbled shingles sits on a quiet street at the edge of L.A. and Culver City.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The technique of “Train Dreams”—the stylized juxtaposition of images and narration, the kaleidoscopic jumble of anxious memories and pastoral portraits—is not the stuff of an Old West parable.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

His sunsum jumbles my thoughts and makes the room stuffy with power.

Read more on Literature

Related Words

• assortment 
• mishmash 
• pastiche 
• patchwork 
• tangle