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Farrago might seem an unlikely relative of farina (the name for 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.

Examples of farrago in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples on the Web This farrago of nonsense was ridiculed by critics, yet was a considerable best seller, his last. — New York Times, 31 Dec. 2021 The comparison doesn’t exactly flatter Pearce’s movie, an uneven farrago of science-fiction thriller and child abduction drama just about held together by Ahmed’s forceful and committed performance as a man teetering on the brink. — Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2021 In that now-infamous press conference, Biden unloosed a farrago of wishful thinking, happy talk, half-truths, and blatant deceptions. — Rich Lowry, National Review, 20 Aug. 2021 In the weeks after the November election, Dobbs had spent most of his prime-time hour on a farrago of conspiracy theories about how Donald Trump had actually defeated Joe Biden. — New York Times, 13 Jan. 2021 After this farrago, what can Montalbano do but agree to foot the bill for the letter/litter, too? — Dennis Drabelle, Washington Post, 12 Sep. 2019 Said plot includes landslides, FBI agents, pharmaceutical mix-ups, family interventions, and journeys to the South Pole — a farrago of farce that never quite jells with the movie’s serious concerns. — Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 15 Aug. 2019 True to form, Ms. Lipman blends a pair of highly appealing love stories into this farrago. — Sam Sacks, WSJ, 15 Feb. 2019 As Voltaire/Pangloss, Kevin Burdette made a brilliantly cynical cicerone through this farrago. — Heidi Waleson, WSJ, 6 Aug. 2018 See More

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.