jumble

American  

[juhm-buhl] / ˈdʒʌm bəl /

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.

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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 British  

/ ˈdʒʌmbəl /

verb

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

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

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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
• jumbly
  adjective
• unjumbled
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of jumble

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

Explanation

When you jumble something, you throw a bunch of items haphazardly together. For example, many people jumble many random things in a kitchen junk drawer. Use the verb jumble to describe what happens when you scramble or mix things up. Some kids, for example, jumble their Lego toys together in a big bin, while others like to sort the pieces by color or size. You can call the mix of items itself a jumble too. In the early 1500s, jumble meant "to move confusedly," and it was probably modeled on stumble. Later that century, it came to mean "mix or confuse."

Example Sentences

Her remains may lie somewhere beneath the modern-day urban jumble of Mexico City.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 25, 2026

He will be battling a Frankenstein-like rival mammoth built by scientists from a jumble of various mammoth bones also plucked from the tar pits.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 22, 2026

But it instantiates the way the story holds its jumble of optimism and disaster in a firm, two-handed grasp: death and chaos on one side, miracles and blessings on the other.

From Salon • Jan. 8, 2026

So that's what this is, but in reality it's really a jumble of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer's character finally comes into her own.

From BBC • Dec. 13, 2025

I shake my head, trying to rid myself of a jumble of feelings.

From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black

Related Words

• assortment
• mishmash
• pastiche
• patchwork
• tangle