variants also rigamarole
as in gobbledegook
language marked by abstractions, jargon, euphemisms, and circumlocutions the security guard gave me some kind of rigmarole about passes and authorizations

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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 rigmarole Of course, there’s a lot more rigmarole involved when selling on the secondary market, including sellers’ fees, but that gap between the valuations is wide. Janhoi McGregor, Forbes.com, 2 Apr. 2025 But not as weird as the rigmarole of the music industry. Justin Curto, Vulture, 26 Mar. 2025 Is there a company that prides itself on an absence of rigmarole? Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 22 July 2024 Last season’s nail-biting seven-game battle was famously known as the I-80 series because both teams opted for the approximately 90-minute (depending on traffic) bus ride rather than the rigmarole of a short flight. Joe Rubin, Sacramento Bee, 16 Apr. 2024 See All Example Sentences for rigmarole
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rigmarole
Noun
  • As always, Yellowjackets is full of mind-bending detours, supernatural gobbledygook, and foliage-laden costumes.
    Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 18 Feb. 2025
  • Apologies to the Lois Lane stans out there, but Adams is mostly on hand in these movies to deliver stern gobbledygook (something about isotopes?) and stare at Henry Cavill’s cheekbones.
    Matthew Jacobs, Vulture, 6 Dec. 2024
Noun
  • While the reactionary right offered the most frothing anti-gay rhetoric, much of the anti-gay policymaking happened under a Democrat, Bill Clinton.
    Lucas Schaefer June 13, Literary Hub, 13 June 2025
  • Trump frequently used similarly bellicose rhetoric at various times during his first term.
    Brett Samuels, The Hill, 13 June 2025
Noun
  • Teachers have banned it from the classroom after kids disrupted lessons by reciting its signature gibberish, Parents reports.
    Leslie Katz, Forbes.com, 3 May 2025
  • In 2023, Voyager 1 started sending gibberish from deep space, but that issue was resolved last year.
    Scott Neuman, NPR, 20 May 2025
Noun
  • There had been a lot of hype around Apple Intelligence a year ago.
    Gene Marks, Forbes.com, 15 June 2025
  • By contrast, Palmeiras, arguably the best team in South America, earned their spot in the Club World Cup by winning the 2023-24 Copa Libertadores and kicked off the tournament after a successful season back home and a lot of hype about their star striker Estêvão.
    Adam Crafton, New York Times, 15 June 2025
Noun
  • Driving the news: The statement was published only in English on the Facebook page of the Israeli Prime Minister's Office — potentially another case of double-talk by Netanyahu.
    Barak Ravid, Axios, 27 Sep. 2024
  • The GOP Senate candidate in Arizona, whose brand is a combative, never-back-down MAGA politics, has adopted a position on the issue that is nearly indistinguishable from that of double-talking Democrats.
    Rich Lowry, National Review, 14 Apr. 2024
Noun
  • Marc, never again will there be our little outbursts of song and dance.
    Jessica Lynch, Billboard, 3 June 2025
  • Kids will take a trip in song and dance to Miss Jamie’s Farm at 10:30 a.m. on July 19.
    Myrna Petlicki, Chicago Tribune, 31 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Rigmarole.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rigmarole. Accessed 30 Jun. 2025.

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