shambles
noun
[ ˈʃamb(ə)lz ]
• a state of total disorder.
• "my career was in a shambles"
Similar:
chaos,
mess,
muddle,
confusion,
disorder,
disarray,
disorganization,
havoc,
mare's nest,
dog's dinner,
dog's breakfast,
omnishambles,
car crash,
complete mess,
pigsty,
pigpen,
disaster area,
tip,
• a butcher's slaughterhouse (archaic except in place names).
• "the shambles where the animals were slaughtered"
shamble
verb
• (of a person) move with a slow, shuffling, awkward gait.
• "he shambled off down the corridor"
Similar:
shuffle,
lumber,
totter,
dodder,
stumble,
scuff/drag one's feet,
hobble,
limp,
ungainly,
lumbering,
shuffling,
awkward,
clumsy,
uncoordinated,
heavy-footed,
Origin:
late 16th century: probably from dialect shamble ‘ungainly’, perhaps from the phrase shamble legs, with reference to the legs of trestle tables (such as would be used in a meat market: see shambles).
