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Hugger-mugger   /hˈəgər-mˈəgər/   Listen
Hugger-mugger

noun
1.
A state of confusion.
adjective
1.
In utter disorder.  Synonyms: disorderly, higgledy-piggledy, jumbled, topsy-turvy.
2.
Conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods.  Synonyms: clandestine, cloak-and-dagger, hole-and-corner, hush-hush, secret, surreptitious, undercover, underground.  "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"
adverb
1.
In secrecy.






WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University








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"Hugger-mugger" Quotes from Famous Books



... still current among us. But of the same sort what vast numbers have fallen out of use, some so fallen out of all remembrance that it may be difficult almost to find credence for them. Thus take of rhyming the following: 'hugger-mugger', 'hurly-burly', 'kicksy-wicksy' (all in Shakespeare); 'hibber-gibber', 'rusty-dusty', 'horrel-lorrel', 'slaump paump' (all in Gabriel Harvey), 'royster-doyster' (Old Play), 'hoddy-doddy' (Ben Jonson); while ...
— English Past and Present • Richard Chenevix Trench

... from the scene of their first known meeting—the Bilderberg Hotel, Oosterbeck, The Netherlands, in May, 1954. The group consists of influential Western businessmen, diplomats, and high governmental officials. Their meetings, conducted in secrecy and in a hugger-mugger atmosphere, are held about every six months at various places throughout the world. His Royal Highness, Prince Bernhard of The Netherlands, has presided at every known ...
— The Invisible Government • Dan Smoot

... fathers and mothers,' by their thoughts, while they secretly long after, and desire their death, that the inheritance may be theirs, and that they may be delivered from obedience to their parents.(1 Tim. 1:9) This is a sin in the house, in the family, a sin that is kept in hugger-mugger, close; but God sees it, and hath declared his dislike against it, by an implicit threatening, to cut them off that are guilty of it. (Eph. 5:1-5) Let them then that name the name of Christ, ...
— The Works of John Bunyan • John Bunyan

... than the mist of night. The carts, carrying the quick and the dead, rumbled by in a long convoy, the drooping heads of the soldiers turned neither to the right nor to the left for any greeting with old friends; there was a hugger-mugger of uniforms on provision carts and ambulances. It was a part of the wreckage and wastage of the war, and to the onlooker, exaggerating unconsciously the importance of the things close at hand and visible, it seemed terrible in its significance, and an ominous reminder of 1870, when ...
— The Soul of the War • Philip Gibbs

... answered the old woman promptly; "and if I don't save you more money than I cost you, the sooner you turn me out o' doors the better. I know what London servants are, and I know their ways; and if Miss Georgy doesn't take to the housekeeping, I know as how things must be hugger-mugger-like below stairs, however smart and tidy things ...
— Birds of Prey • M. E. Braddon



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