Word Study
hugger-mugger
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
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