Farrago

Pronunciation

• IPA: /fəˈreɪɡoÊŠ/, /fəˈrɑːɡoÊŠ/

Origin

From Latin farrāgo ("mixed fodder; mixture, hodgepodge"), from far ("spelt (a kind of wheat), coarse meal, grits").

Full definition of farrago

Noun

1. A collection containing a confused variety of miscellaneous things.
• a. 1900 William Barclay Squire, , article in Dictionary of National Biography, Volume 3,Balfe's next work, 'The Maid of Artois,' was written to a libretto furnished by Bunn, the first of those astonishing farragoes of balderdash which raised the Drury Lane manager to the first rank amongst poetasters.
• 1911, , 11f: Modern English Drama, article in Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition,Hastily adapted by slovenly hacks, their librettos (often witty in the original) became incredible farragos of metreless doggrel and punning ineptitude.
• 1929, Virginia Woolf, , Penguin Books, paperback edition, page 72Or, This is a farrago of absurdity, I could never feel anything of the sort myself.
• 2005 November 7, Toronto Star,The original script is a complicated farrago of intertwined greed and lust, with marriages being planned and hearts being broken in order to accumulate fortunes as well as romance.

Synonyms

• (confused miscellany) hodgepodge, hotchpotch, melange, mingle-mangle, mishmash, oddments, odds and ends, omnium-gatherum, ragbag

Derived terms

• farraginous