jumble
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to mix in a confused mass; put or throw together without order.
You've jumbled up all the cards.
- Antonyms:
- separate
-
to confuse mentally; muddle.
verb (used without object)
-
to be mixed together in a disorderly heap or mass.
-
to meet or come together confusedly.
noun
-
a mixed or disordered heap or mass.
a jumble of paper clips, rubber bands, and string.
-
a confused mixture; medley.
-
a state of confusion or disorder.
- Synonyms:
- chaos, muddle, mess, gallimaufry, farrago, hodgepodge
- Antonyms:
- order
-
Also jumbal a small, round, flat cake or cookie with a hole in the middle.
verb
-
to mingle (objects, papers, etc) in a state of disorder
-
(tr; usually passive) to remember in a confused form; muddle
noun
-
a disordered mass, state, etc
-
articles donated for a jumble sale
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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
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.
Her remains may lie somewhere beneath the modern-day urban jumble of Mexico City.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 25, 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
A jumble of rectangles snaps into a rigidly composed vista of a white gate set into an earthy wall.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 31, 2025
I’ve applied to positions at firms like “SettlePoint Synergies,” “Hello! Z5arpe 25,” and “Marluflouxx Nü Solutions,” or some other cryptic word jumble to that effect.
From Slate • Oct. 6, 2025
Around the edge were the squares we’d made together from scraps left by the people of Hope Springs—every print and color imaginable, a real mismatched jumble that together looked perfect.
From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry
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.
