HUGGER-MUGGER • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Hugger-mugger

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/hˈəgər-mˈəgər/ Listen

Hugger-mugger

adjective

In utter disorder. Synonyms: disorderly, higgledy-piggledy, jumbled, topsy-turvy.

Conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods. Synonyms: clandestine, cloak-and-dagger, hole-and-corner, hush-hush, secret, surreptitious, undercover, underground. "Cloak-and-dagger activities behind enemy lines" , "Hole-and-corner intrigue" , "Secret missions" , "A secret agent" , "Secret sales of arms" , "Surreptitious mobilization of troops" , "An undercover investigation" , "Underground resistance"

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Etymology of 'Hugger-mugger'

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"Hugger-mugger" Quotes from Famous Books

... the child. His father was at the Marshalsea. But his mother and brothers and sisters were, to use his own words, "still encamped, with a young servant girl from Chatham workhouse, in the two parlours in the emptied house in Gower Street North." And there he lived with them, in much "hugger-mugger," merely taking his humble midday meal in nomadic fashion, on his own account. Soon, however, his position became even more forlorn. The paternal creditors proved insatiable. The gipsy home in Gower Street had to be broken up. Mrs. Dickens and the children ...

— Life of Charles Dickens • Frank Marzials

Words linked to "Hugger-mugger" : untidy, hugger mugger, confusion, covert