hugger-mugger meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

hugger-mugger

adj

UK /ˈhʌɡ.əˌmʌɡ.ə/ · US /ˈhʌɡ.ɚˌmʌɡ.ɚ/

Etymology Unknown; perhaps from Anglo-Irish cuggermugger (“a whispering, a low-voiced gossiping”), from Irish cogar (“whisper”). Compare also Scots hudge-mudge, hody-moke, Swedish mjugg (“stealth, secrecy”).

1

Secret, clandestine, sly.

2

Disorderly, chaotic, confused.

hugger-mugger doings
So Brad McLaughlin mingled reckless talk Of heavenly stars with hugger-mugger farming, Till having failed at hugger-mugger farming, He burned his house down for the fire insurance And spent the proceeds on a telescope […]1923 October, Robert Frost, “[Notes.] The Star-splitter.”, in New Hampshire […], New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, →OCLC, page 27:

1 more example

There were densely tenanted houses on the main road, pigsties hugger-mugger with people, fireplace ashes thrown out at night.2020 September 1, Tom Lamont, “The butcher's shop that lasted 300 years (give or take)”, in The Guardian:

Derived terms: hugger-muggery

hugger-mugger

noun

Etymology Unknown; perhaps from Anglo-Irish cuggermugger (“a whispering, a low-voiced gossiping”), from Irish cogar (“whisper”). Compare also Scots hudge-mudge, hody-moke, Swedish mjugg (“stealth, secrecy”).

1

Archaic Secrecy.

[…]; and we haue done but greenly In hugger mugger to interre him.c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene v], page 273, column 2:
Many things have been done in Hugger mugger in our Age, prophane perſons conceited that their privacy protected them from divine inſpection.1660, Thomas Fuller, “Not invisible”, in Mixt Contemplations in Better Times, London: […] R[oger] D[aniel] for Iohn Williams, […], →OCLC, page 74:

2

Disorder.

As we passed through the quadrangle the church was glowing more brightly than a pearl, like a lily in strong sunlight, in spite of all the scaffolding and hugger-mugger.1942, Rebecca West, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, Canongate, published 2006, page 990:
Portentous events and lots of huggermugger quickly proliferate, as they always in Pynchon-land: a dead body turns up near the pool in a famous Upper West Side building; […]2013 September 10, Michiko Kakutani, “A Calamity Tailor-Made for Internet Conspiracy Theories”, in New York Times:

hugger-mugger

adv

Etymology Unknown; perhaps from Anglo-Irish cuggermugger (“a whispering, a low-voiced gossiping”), from Irish cogar (“whisper”). Compare also Scots hudge-mudge, hody-moke, Swedish mjugg (“stealth, secrecy”).

1

Secretly.

2

Confusedly, in a muddle.

hugger-mugger

verb

Etymology Unknown; perhaps from Anglo-Irish cuggermugger (“a whispering, a low-voiced gossiping”), from Irish cogar (“whisper”). Compare also Scots hudge-mudge, hody-moke, Swedish mjugg (“stealth, secrecy”).

1

To meet or act secretly.

Related terms: hudder-mudder