shambolic

English

WOTD – 31 August 2017

Etymology

Perhaps from shambles +‎ -o- +‎ -ic +‎ [Term?] (adjective), in which the interconsonantal -o- avoids the /mbl/ consonant cluster. Possibly influenced by symbolic.

Alternatively, and more likely, a blend of shambles +‎ symbolic.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ʃamˈbɒlɪk/
• (General American) enPR: shăm(')bŏlʹĭk, IPA^(key): /(ˌ)ʃæmˈbɑlɪk/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ʃæmˈbɔlɪk/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒlɪk
• Hyphenation: sham‧bol‧ic

Adjective

shambolic (comparative more shambolic, superlative most shambolic)

1. (UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) Chaotic, disorganised or mismanaged. [from 1952]
   • 1952 April, The Tank‎^[1], volume 34, number 396, London, page 231:

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

   • 1958 December 5, “'Pavilion Would Help Clubs'”, in West Sussex County Times‎^[2], Horsham, page 6:

     He said his club had coined a new word 'Shambolic,' which meant spending more time watching the weather than playing.

   • 1994, Timothy O'Riordan, James Cameron, “The History and Contemporary Significance of the Precautionary Principle”, in Tim O'Riordan, James Cameron, editors, Interpreting the Precautionary Principle, London: Earthscan, →ISBN, page 12:

     The precautionary principle is a culturally framed concept that takes its cue from changing social conceptions about the appropriate roles of science, economics, ethics, politics and the law in pro-active environmental protection and management. As this book will reveal, it is a rather shambolic concept, muddled in policy advice and subject to the whims of international diplomacy and the unpredictable public mood over the true cost of sustainable living.

   • 2000, China Miéville, Perdido Street Station, London: Macmillan Publishers, →ISBN, page 24:

     The pub was empty of all but the most dedicated drinkers, shambolic figures huddled over bottles.

   • 2013, Philip Murphy, “Winds of Change and the Royal Family”, in Monarchy and the End of Empire: The House of Windsor, the British Government, and the Postwar Commonwealth, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 66:

     The shabby subterfuge surrounding Suez [the Suez Crisis], as much as its shambolic aftermath, have made it a symbol of the collapse of British global power in the post-war era.

   • 2014 October 22, Graham Michael Barton, “Distribution”, in Show Me the Money: Where Did All the Aid and Money Go after Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines November 2013, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 5:

     During normal times, distribution of goods or services to over 7,000 islands [in the Philippines] is difficult, and the reality is that on a day-to-day basis, it's shambolic. There are too many examples of corruption and inefficiency.

   • 2020 May 6, Sir Michael Holden, “Time for our industry's leaders to rise to the challenge”, in Rail, page 28:

     New train introduction had become shambolic with extended delays - mainly due to repeated software issues, seriously late deliveries, and gauging problems.

   • 2020 September 28, New York Times Editorial Board, “The Picture of a Broken Tax System”, in New York Times‎^[3]:

     Donald Trump’s tax returns illustrate the profound inequities of the tax code and the shambolic state of federal enforcement.

Derived terms

• shambolically
• shambolism

Related terms

• omnishambles
• sham
• shambles

Translations

chaotic

• Galician: caótico
• Hungarian: kusza (hu), kaotikus (hu)
• Maori: kūnakunaku, kaumingomingo
• Portuguese: caótico (pt)
• Spanish: caótico (es)

Further reading

• “shambolic”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “shambolic”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

• choliambs