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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
Stephanie Bunbury, Deadline, 13 Feb. 2025
Less than a decade after its birth, the group imploded in its manager’s Hollywood mansion, the sisterhood of its members lost amid a farrago of fame and mental fatigue.
—Bob Mehr, New York Times, 10 Feb. 2025
All the magnificent views across Berlin that punctuate the story, however, cannot change the essential fact that this is a farrago of nonsense.
—Stephanie Bunbury, Deadline, 13 Feb. 2025
His platform — a farrago of liberal and conservative views mashed up with a mess of conspiracy-laden pottage, isn’t easily categorized.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Farrago.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/farrago. Accessed 13 Jul. 2025.
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