menagerie

noun

me·​nag·​er·​ie

mə-ˈnaj-rē, 

-ˈna-jə- 

also -ˈnazh-rē, 

-ˈna-zhə-

1

a

: a place where animals are kept and trained especially for exhibition

b

: a collection of wild or foreign animals kept especially for exhibition

2

: a varied mixture

A menagerie of comedians …

—TV Guide

A menagerie of grotesque statues stood in the garden.

Did you know?

Back in the days of Middle French, ménagerie meant “the management of a household or farm” or “a place where animals are tended.” When English speakers adopted menagerie in the 1600s, they applied it specifically to places where wild and often also foreign animals were kept and trained for exhibition, as well as to the animals so kept. This second meaning was eventually generalized to refer to any varied mixture, especially one that includes things that are strange or foreign to one’s experience.

Synonyms of menagerie

• assortment
• jumble
• variety
• medley
• collage

Examples of menagerie in a Sentence

a menagerie of rare creatures

the living room is eclectically furnished with a menagerie of garage-sale finds

Recent Examples on the Web

The Kardashian-Jenner family has quite the menagerie of animals, including dogs, cats, reptiles, and even horses. —Lindsay Kimble, PEOPLE, 26 Dec. 2025

Want to get a closer look at the diverse menagerie of worlds populating our solar system? —Anthony Wood, Space.com, 26 Dec. 2025

Baby Solar Systems While we Earthlings have been enjoying our annual twirl through the solar system, scientists have shared baby photographs of a whole menagerie of other star systems, thanks to the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope. —Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 22 Dec. 2025

The canon can already be described as a bewildering artistic menagerie, including a perplexing assessment of misandrism, body horror by Brian Yuzna, killer toys from the ’90s, and more. —Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 11 Dec. 2025

Word History

Etymology

French ménagerie, from Middle French, management of a household or farm, from menage

First Known Use

1676, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

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Kids Definition

menagerie

noun

me·​nag·​er·​ie mə-ˈnaj-(ə-)rē 

also -ˈnazh-

1

: a place where animals are kept and trained especially for exhibition

2

: a collection of wild or foreign animals kept especially for exhibition