Shambolic

//ʃamˈbɒlɪk// adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Chaotic, disorganised or mismanaged. Commonwealth, Ireland, UK

    "[O]ne must admit there were those among us who were somewhat on the shambolic side."

Adjective
  1. 1
    (British slang) disorderly or chaotic wordnet

Example

More examples

"[O]ne must admit there were those among us who were somewhat on the shambolic side."

Etymology

Possibly from shambles + -o- + -ic (adjective), in which the interconsonantal -o- avoids the /mbl/ consonant cluster. Possibly influenced by symbolic. Alternatively, possibly a blend of shambles + symbolic.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.