If a place, event, or situation is ashambles or is in a shambles, everything is in disorder.
The ship's interior was an utter shambles.
The economy is in a shambles.
Synonyms: chaos, mess, disorder, confusion More Synonyms of shambles
More Synonyms of shambles
shambles in British English
(ˈʃæmbəlz)
noun(functioning as singular or plural)
1.
a place of great disorder
the room was a shambles after the party
2.
a place where animals are brought to be slaughtered
3.
any place of slaughter or carnage
4. British dialect
a row of covered stalls or shops where goods, originally meat, are sold
Word origin
C14 shamble table used by meat vendors, from Old English sceamel stool, from Late Latin scamellum a small bench, from Latin scamnum stool
shambles in American English
(ˈʃæmbəlz)
noun
1. British
a place where meat is sold; butcher's stall or shop
now only a local usage, esp. in street names
2.
a slaughterhouse
3.
a scene of great slaughter, bloodshed, or carnage
4.
any scene or condition of great destruction or disorder
rooms left a shambles by conventioneers
Word origin
ME schamel, bench, as for displaying meat for sale < OE scamol, bench or stool, akin to Ger schemel < early WGmc borrowing < L scamellum, dim. < scamnum, bench < IE base *skabh-, *skambh-, to prop up > Sans skámbhana-, a support
COBUILD Collocations
shambles
absolute shambles
utter shambles
Examples of 'shambles' in a sentence
shambles
This whole business is a complete shambles and a total embarrassment.
The Sun (2011)
We reduced the place to a shambles.
Christianity Today (2000)
All of which adds up to an utter shambles.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
The whole thing has been a complete shambles.
The Sun (2015)
The place was a shambles and a danger.
The Sun (2009)
The economy is a shambles and money seems to be traded with little thought for disadvantaged members of society.
The Sun (2008)
Our game is an utter shambles.
The Sun (2007)
What a complete and utter shambles.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
She would do well to begin by asking them what they think of the utter shambles that is our public examinations system.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The ship's interior was an utter shambles.
Eaton, John P & Haas, Charles A Titanic - Destination disaster (1987)
The scheduling of this week's ties is a complete shambles.
The Sun (2006)
It was a complete shambles before, to be honest.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
They looked an utter shambles.
The Sun (2007)
He said: 'It was a shambles on air.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
The place was a shambles; there had been turkeys in one room, pheasants in another.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
With inflation running at 25 per cent, the economy is a shambles.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
He found the place 'an absolute shambles '.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
He said: 'This department is an utter shambles.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Tories called it 'a shambles '.
The Sun (2008)
In other languages
shambles
British English: shambles /ˈʃæmblz/ NOUN
If a place, event, or situation is a shambles, everything is in disorder.