jumble

/ˈdʒʌmbəl/

/ˈdʒʌmbəl/

Other forms: jumbled; jumbles; jumbling

When you jumble something, you throw a bunch of items haphazardly together. For example, many people jumble many random things in a kitchen junk drawer.

Use the verb jumble to describe what happens when you scramble or mix things up. Some kids, for example, jumble their Lego toys together in a big bin, while others like to sort the pieces by color or size. You can call the mix of items itself a jumble too. In the early 1500s, jumble meant "to move confusedly," and it was probably modeled on stumble. Later that century, it came to mean "mix or confuse."

Definitions of jumble

1. verb

   assemble without order or sense
   “She jumbles the words when she is supposed to write a sentence”

   synonyms: confuse, mix up

   conflate, confound, confuse

   mistake one thing for another

   types:

   addle, muddle, puddle

   mix up or confuse

   type of:

   assemble, piece, put together, set up, tack, tack together

   create by putting components or members together
2. verb

   bring into random order
   synonyms: scramble, throw together

   types:

   tumble

   throw together in a confused mass

   type of:

   disarray, disorder

   bring disorder to
3. verb

   be all mixed up or jumbled together
   “His words jumbled”

   synonyms: mingle

   type of:

   be

   have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)
4. noun

   a confused multitude of things
   synonyms: clutter, fuddle, mare's nest, muddle, smother, welter

   types:

   rummage

   a jumble of things to be given away

   type of:

   disorder, disorderliness

   a condition in which things are not in their expected places
5. noun

   a theory or argument made up of miscellaneous or incongruous ideas
   synonyms: hodgepodge, patchwork

   type of:

   theory

   a belief that can guide behavior
6. noun

   small flat ring-shaped cake or cookie
   synonyms: jumbal

   type of:

   cake

   baked goods made from or based on a mixture of flour, sugar, eggs, and fat