farrago

noun far·ra·go \ fə-ˈrä-(ˌ)gō , -ˈrā- \

Definition of farrago

plural farragoes

:a confused mixture :hodgepodge

farrago was our Word of the Day on 09/17/2010. Hear the podcast!

Examples of farrago in a Sentence

the shop is filled with a whimsical farrago of artwork, antiques, and vintage clothing

Recent Examples of farrago from the Web

This is a rich farrago of truth, misdirection, and hand-waving.

— david a. graham, The Atlantic, "The Trump Uncertainty Principle," 6 July 2017
Spicer’s overture statement was a farrago of false assertions, misleading stats, and embattled attitude, putting those Beltway press-corps punks on notice that there was a new sheriff in town.

— james wolcott, The Hive, "There’s Nowhere Left for Sean Spicer to Hide," 4 July 2017
Spicer’s overture statement was a farrago of false assertions, misleading stats, and embattled attitude, putting those Beltway press-corps punks on notice that there was a new sheriff in town.

— james wolcott, The Hive, "There’s Nowhere Left for Sean Spicer to Hide," 4 July 2017
Spicer’s overture statement was a farrago of false assertions, misleading stats, and embattled attitude, putting those Beltway press-corps punks on notice that there was a new sheriff in town.

— james wolcott, The Hive, "There’s Nowhere Left for Sean Spicer to Hide," 4 July 2017
Spicer’s overture statement was a farrago of false assertions, misleading stats, and embattled attitude, putting those Beltway press-corps punks on notice that there was a new sheriff in town.

— james wolcott, The Hive, "There’s Nowhere Left for Sean Spicer to Hide," 4 July 2017
Spicer’s overture statement was a farrago of false assertions, misleading stats, and embattled attitude, putting those Beltway press-corps punks on notice that there was a new sheriff in town.

— james wolcott, The Hive, "There’s Nowhere Left for Sean Spicer to Hide," 4 July 2017
Spicer’s overture statement was a farrago of false assertions, misleading stats, and embattled attitude, putting those Beltway press-corps punks on notice that there was a new sheriff in town.

— vanityfair.com, VanityFair.com, "There’s Nowhere Left for Sean Spicer to Hide," 28 June 2017
Kara’s opening monologue gives a sense of the show’s tone, a farrago of hand-wringing and rustic absurdity, with a Freudian undercurrent:

— dan piepenbring, The New Yorker, "Watch Jonathan Demme’s Pitch-Black Eighties Sitcom Episode," 1 May 2017

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

Did You Know?

Farrago might seem an unlikely relative of "farina" (the mealy breakfast cereal), but the two terms have their roots in the same Latin noun. Both derive from "far," the Latin name for "spelt" (a type of grain). In Latin, farrago meant "mixed fodder" - cattle feed, that is. It was also used more generally to mean "mixture." When it was adopted into English in the early 1600s, "farrago" retained the "mixture" sense of its ancestor. Today, we often use it for a jumble or medley of disorganized, haphazard, or even nonsensical ideas or elements.