Word Study
hugger-mugger
WORDNET DICTIONARY
Noun hugger-mugger has 1 sense
- hugger-mugger(n = noun.state) Array - a state of confusion; "he engaged in the hugger-mugger of international finance" is a kind of confusion
Derived forms verb hugger mugger1, adjective hugger-mugger1
Adjective hugger-mugger has 2 senses
- hugger-mugger(s = adj.all) disorderly, higgledy-piggledy, jumbled, topsy-turvy - in utter disorder; "a disorderly pile of clothes" Derived form noun hugger-mugger1
- hugger-mugger(s = adj.all) clandestine, cloak-and-dagger, hole-and-corner, hush-hush, secret, surreptitious, undercover, underground - conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods; "clandestine intelligence operations"; "cloak-and-dagger activities behind enemy lines"; "hole-and-corner intrigue"; "secret missions"; "a secret agent"; "secret sales of arms"; "surreptitious mobilization of troops"; "an undercover investigation"; "underground resistance"
Adverbial hugger-mugger has 1 sense
CIDE DICTIONARY
hugger-mugger, n. [Scot. huggrie-muggrie; Prov. E. hugger to lie in ambush, mug mist, muggard sullen.].
- Privacy; secrecy. Commonly in the phrase in hugger-mugger, with haste and secrecy. [1913 Webster]"Many things have been done in hugger-mugger." [1913 Webster]
- Confusion; disorder. [PJC]
hugger-mugger, a.
- Secret; clandestine; sly. [1913 Webster]
- Confused; disorderly; slovenly; mean; as, hugger-mugger doings. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
hugger-mugger, adj., adv., n., & v.
--adj. & adv.
1 in secret.
2 confused; in confusion.
--n.
1 secrecy.
2 confusion.
--v.intr. proceed in a secret or muddled fashion.
--adj. & adv.
1 in secret.
2 confused; in confusion.
--n.
1 secrecy.
2 confusion.
--v.intr. proceed in a secret or muddled fashion.
Etymology
prob. rel. to ME hoder huddle, mokere conceal: cf. 15th-c. hoder moder, 16th-c. hucker mucker in the same sense
For further exploring for "hugger-mugger" in Webster Dictionary Online
