Definition of ALPHABET SOUP

Examples of alphabet soup in a Sentence

a bowl of alphabet soup the alphabet soup of designer drugs that were available to patrons of the once-notorious disco

Recent Examples on the Web During the past two decades, he’s fought with an alphabet soup of different militias and armies in both Rwanda and Congo. — Washington Post, "For the first time, a man has been sentenced for sexual slavery by the International Criminal Court. He got 30 years.," 7 Nov. 2019 But personal relations often count for more in the alphabet soup of jihadi politics, and a few local friends could well have provided him a hideout. — Eliza Mackintosh, CNN, "ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead. Here are 6 things you need to know," 28 Oct. 2019 By Ken Mimms, Staff Writer, The San Diego Union The acronym ARJIS may mean nothing more to the average citizen than a bureaucratic bowl of alphabet soup. — Merrie Monteagudo, San Diego Union-Tribune, "From the Archives: Computerized police records got mixed reaction 40 years ago," 15 Oct. 2019 That was boxing back then, before all the alphabet soup belts and champions who decided two fights a year was more than enough. — Greg Bishop, SI.com, "The Future Is Now for Errol Spence Jr.," 26 Sep. 2019 We snorkel through alphabet soup, collecting spoons and toothbrushes and bottle caps. — Rowan Jacobsen, Outside Online, "An Ocean Plastics Field Trip for Corporate Executives," 8 Aug. 2019 The search for dark matter involves a dizzying array of experiments, a veritable alphabet soup of acronyms, all using different techniques and technologies. — Jennifer Ouellette, Quanta Magazine, "In the Hunt for Dark Matter, Promises to Keep?," 18 July 2013 The industry faces an alphabet soup of regulators—from the SEC to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, to banking regulators who police the payment systems and enforce anti-money-laundering laws. — Dave Michaels, WSJ, "Silicon Valley Is Into Bitcoin. It Wants to Keep Washington Out.," 19 Apr. 2018 Washington could hardly function without the alphabet soup helping government officials, lobbyists and policy wonks navigate the bureaucracy. — Ryan Tracy, WSJ, "Can You Say EGRRCPA? Tongue-Twister Banking Law Confuses Washington," 1 Sep. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'alphabet soup.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

21 Nov 2019

Cite this Entry

“Alphabet soup.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alphabet%20soup. Accessed 22 November 2019.