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

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 rigmarole The bust was followed by months of prolonged legal rigmarole. John Semley, Rolling Stone, 19 Apr. 2025 Editors’ Picks Our Favorite Bathrooms Kermit has been through the graduation rigmarole before. Callie Holtermann, New York Times, 28 Mar. 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 See All Example Sentences for rigmarole
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rigmarole
Noun
  • Bob Kring DeBary Congressional bill is full of greed The Great Big Beautiful Bill reads like 950 pages of of gobbledygook distilled into four words: Greedy, stingy, mean and short-sighted.
    Letters to the Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 2 July 2025
  • The six-episode limited series feels like a long movie broken into arbitrary episodes, its ending is mired by digital gobbledygook, and Marvel still doesn’t know how magic makes sense in a universe ruled by advanced technology and literal gods.
    Ben Travers, IndieWire, 24 June 2025
Noun
  • Yet, historians have noted that his rhetoric and policies play into the individualist and patriotic characteristics associated with the beloved Western cowboy.
    Leah Asmelash, CNN Money, 19 Oct. 2025
  • Republican rhetoric didn’t appear to give protesters pause in the Bay Area on Saturday, and local Republicans appeared to stay on the sidelines.
    Grant Stringer, Mercury News, 19 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • These parables sometimes read like gibberish, talking both down and up to the reader.
    Book Marks October 2, Literary Hub, 2 Oct. 2025
  • My last thought, here, beware of the endless gibberish about the hazards of rotations.
    Jim Cramer, CNBC, 24 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • Parker Finn's directorial debut not only lives up to the hype but also delivers a campy and absurd exploration of the transference of generational trauma — pulling off some impressive jump scares and one hell of a phantasmagorical ending.
    Steven Thrash, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Oct. 2025
  • Others, like Professor Wendy Hall (professor of computer science at Southampton University), say this is hype.
    Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 19 Oct. 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
  • Peaceful protesting with song and dance Despite the many criticisms that anti-Trump protesters came to preach, there were displays of optimism, hope and whimsy in several cities.
    Emma Bowman, NPR, 19 Oct. 2025
  • The Red Sox and Bregman will have another song and dance to play after the update from the New York Post's Jon Heyman that the third baseman reportedly opt-out of his contract to reenter free agency.
    Tim Crowley, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Oct. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

“Rigmarole.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rigmarole. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on rigmarole

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!