mixed bag

American  

noun

Informal.

1. an often unexpected assortment of various things, people, or ideas.

   The concert was a mixed bag of works from three centuries.

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mixed bag British  

noun

1. informal something composed of diverse elements, characteristics, people, etc

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mixed bag Idioms  

1. A heterogeneous collection of people, items, activities, or the like; an assortment. For example, The school offers a mixed bag of after-school activities—team sports, band practice, a language class. This idiom calls up the image of a sack full of different items. [First half of 1900s]

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Etymology

Origin of mixed bag

First recorded in 1935–40

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mixed bag

Equities sank in Asia Thursday as tech firms resumed their downward spiral following a mixed bag of earnings from Wall Street titans, while sentiment was also soured by another spike in oil prices.

From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026

Southeast Asia factory activity was a mixed bag.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

“Heart of the Beast” has its highs and lows but cinematically, it’s a mixed bag — entirely predictable and just not great.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026

Newcastle United: A mixed bag under new manager Matthias Jaissle.

From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026

Naturally, in a mixed bag such as this, one can't complain if the quality of the contents varies.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 153, October 24, 1917 by Various

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