rigmarole
[ rig-muh-rohl ]
/ ˈrɪg məˌroʊl /
noun
an elaborate or complicated procedure: to go through the rigmarole of a formal dinner.
confused, incoherent, foolish, or meaningless talk.
RELATED WORDS
hogwash, blather, jargon, madness, gobbledygook, babble, bunk, bull, foolishness, drivel, poppycock, rubbish, baloney, balderdash, prattle, gibberish, trash, palaver, senselessness, silliness
Nearby words
- rigidity,
- rigidize,
- rigidly,
- rigil kent,
- rigil kentaurus,
- rigodon,
- rigolet,
- rigoletto,
- rigor,
- rigor mortis
Also rigamarole.
Origin of rigmarole
First recorded in 1730–40; alteration of ragman roll
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for rigmarole
rigmarole
rigamarole
/ (ˈrɪɡməˌrəʊl) /
noun
any long complicated procedure
a set of incoherent or pointless statements; garbled nonsense
Word Origin for rigmarole
C18: from earlier ragman roll a list, probably a roll used in a medieval game, wherein various characters were described in verse, beginning with Ragemon le bon Ragman the good
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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rigmarole
1736, "a long, rambling discourse," apparently from an altered, Kentish colloquial survival of ragman roll "long list or catalogue" (1520s), in Middle English a long roll of verses descriptive of personal characters, used in a medieval game of chance called Rageman, perhaps from Anglo-French Ragemon le bon "Ragemon the good," which was the heading on one set of the verses, referring to a character by that name. Sense transferred to "foolish activity or commotion" by 1939.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper