shambles
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
a situation or place that is very untidy, disorganized, or badly managed.
a state of total disorder, confusion, or mismanagement. Often used with the definite article 'a' to describe a failed project or a messy room.
Simple“The party was a complete shambles because nobody remembered to bring the food.”
In context“The government's new housing policy is in a total shambles, with three different departments issuing conflicting guidelines to the public.”
UsageUsually appears in the singular form 'a shambles' or 'in a shambles'.
PitfallThe room was very shambles. The room was a shambles.Shambles is a noun, not an adjective. You must use it with 'a' or 'in a'.
- 02 C2 Proficiency
a place where animals are killed for meat.
a slaughterhouse or a place of great bloodshed. This sense is largely historical but explains the modern 'messy' meaning.
Simple“The old city map showed where the meat market and the shambles used to be.”
In context“The battlefield was a bloody shambles, a grim testament to the ferocity of the previous night's engagement.”
Teacher's tipThis sense is rare in modern conversation; students will mostly encounter it in historical literature or when visiting old street names like 'The Shambles' in York.
Synonyms
“Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian It is possible to explain away the shambles against Brentford, who were not only much more joined-up but appeared to want it more in the duels.”
“After the shambles of last summer and the start of the campaign, maybe Sheffield United have learned from their mistakes.”
From Middle English schamels, plural of schamel, from Old English sċeamol, sċamul (“bench, stool”), from Proto-West Germanic skamul, skamil (“stool, bench”), from Vulgar Latin scamellum, from Latin scamillum (“little bench, ridge”), from Latin scamnum (“bench, ridge, breadth of a field”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.