1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

alphabet soup

noun

Definition of alphabet soupnext
as in medley
an unorganized collection or mixture of various things the alphabet soup of designer drugs that were available to patrons of the once-notorious disco

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of alphabet soup Staying up to date on the alphabet soup of laws like ERISA, the ACA, COBRA and HIPAA definitely requires some proactive monitoring of regulatory changes. — Beth Latchana, Forbes.com, 13 May 2026 The Nuggets’ alphabet soup TV playoff schedule is an ABCDEFU to fans. — Troy Renck, Denver Post, 15 Apr. 2026 The alphabet soup of agencies that oversee transit planning for the Atlanta metro would change under a late-session move in the Senate to abolish the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority and the Atlanta-Region Transit Link Authority. — Sara Gregory, AJC.com, 26 Mar. 2026 Baseball is changing at a dizzying speed in 2026 with the arrival of robot umpires, the return home of the Tampa Bay Rays and an alphabet soup of networks televising games in perhaps the last season before a labor shutdown. — Ronald Blum, Chicago Tribune, 25 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for alphabet soup
Recent Examples of Synonyms for alphabet soup
  1. medley
  2. variety
  3. assortment
  4. jumble
  5. collage
  6. crazy quilt
  7. patchwork quilt
Noun
  • Was Beyoncé’s Lemonade medley a new high point for award-show performances in general?
    — Andrew Unterberger, Billboard, 17 Sep. 2026
  • The honorees typically perform a career-spanning medley of their greatest hits during the ceremony.
    — Daysia Tolentino, Entertainment Weekly, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of medley
Noun
  • Cool Pacific breezes and a variety of soils make this stretch of Northern California a perfect place to grow grapes.
    — Catherine Garcia, TheWeek, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Tony's Pizza Napoletana delivers a heady variety of regional styles in addition to its namesake Neapolitan (chef-owner Tony Gemignani's Neapolitan Margherita helped jump-start his career).
    — Kat Chen, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of variety
Noun
  • For now, the court record describes a shipment declared as storage boxes, coolers and a chair that federal agents say instead contained firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition and an assortment of unfinished receivers and other gun parts.
    — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 17 Sep. 2026
  • The assortment demonstrates that Celium can be cut, shaped and integrated into fashion, interiors and small accessories.
    — Alexandra Harrell, Footwear News, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of assortment
Noun
  • Arches and natural bridges sweep like buttresses from jumbles of rock, giving this landscape a mystical, cathedral-like quality.
    — Madison Chapman, Outside, 25 Mar. 2026
  • Macaroons are chewy jumbles of coconut bound together with egg whites and sweetened condensed milk.
    — Lynda Balslev, Mercury News, 10 Feb. 2026
Definition of jumble
Noun
  • Larry Birkhead is celebrating his daughter's 20th birthday with a rare collage of photos.
    — Janelle Ash, FOXNews.com, 8 Sep. 2026
  • The cut luxuriates in the pure sound of the songs that make up its collage.
    — Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of collage
Noun
  • One thing that Mamdani should do on property taxes is push to reform the crazy quilt and unfair system.
    — New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 18 Feb. 2026
  • There’s everything from 19th-century crazy quilts to vintage napkins, even a bag of stretchy strings.
    — Hannah Martin, Architectural Digest, 6 June 2025
Definition of crazy quilt
Noun
  • Or — most recently — the patchwork quilt of eligibility lawsuits across the nation, with circumstances that seem to change by the hour?
    — Brendan Marks, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2026
  • The rolling mountain landscape becomes an undulating patchwork quilt of searing scarlets, terracottas, vermillions, and more.
    — Jessica Puckett, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of patchwork quilt

Browse Nearby Words

alphabetizing
alphabet soup
alphabet soups
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Alphabet soup.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/alphabet%20soup. Accessed 22 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of nemesis

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Why do we say 'fly off the handle'?
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
crayons-in-a-circle
Guess the Color Quiz Questions that use the whole box of crayons.
See All