Shemozzle

//ʃɪˈmɒzəl// noun, verb, slang

noun, verb, slang ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A state of chaos or confusion. slang

    ""No end of a shemozzle there’s been there lately," he said. "Marina Gregg's been having hysterics most days. Said some coffee she was given was poisoned.""

  2. 2
    (Yiddish) a confused situation or affair; a mess wordnet
  3. 3
    A quarrel or rumpus. slang

    "If Will comes out of this shemozzle."

Verb
  1. 1
    To scarper; to run away; to flee. slang

    "For quotations using this term, see Citations:shemozzle."

Synonyms

All synonyms
adobotherbrouhahacommotiondisorderdog's breakfast

Example

More examples

""No end of a shemozzle there’s been there lately," he said. "Marina Gregg's been having hysterics most days. Said some coffee she was given was poisoned.""

Etymology

UK late-19th century. Borrowed from Yiddish שלימזל (shlimazl, “misfortune”), from Middle High German slim (“crooked”) and Hebrew מַזָּל (mazzāl, “luck”). Cognate with US English schlimazel (“unlucky person”). Compare German Schlamassel.

Related phrases

run away

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