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Feb 8, 2014
This week's theme
Words from Harry Potter

This week's words
scud
resplendent
slipstream
heinous
sepulchral
higgledy-piggledy
canker

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

higgledy-piggledy

PRONUNCIATION:
(HIG-uhl-dee PIG-uhl-dee)

MEANING:
adverb: In a disordered or random manner.
adjective: Confused; jumbled.

ETYMOLOGY:
Of unknown origin, perhaps referring to the herding of pigs. Earliest documented use: 1598.

USAGE:
"Owl feathers, apple cores, and sweet wrappers littered the floor, a number of spell books lay higgledy-piggledy among the tangled robes on his bed."
J.K. Rowling; Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince; Bloomsbury; 2005.

See more usage examples of higgledy-piggledy in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
The institution of royalty in any form is an insult to the human race. -Mark Twain, author and humorist (1835-1910)

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