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Webster 1913 Edition
Hugger-mugger
Hug′ger-mugˊger
,Noun.
[Scot.
huggrie-muggrie
; Prov. E. hugger
to lie in ambush, mug
mist, muggard
sullen.] 1.
Privacy; secrecy. Commonly in the phrase in hugger-mugger, with haste and secrecy.
[Archaic]
Many things have been done in
hugger-mugger
. Fuller.
Hug′ger-mugˊger
,Adj.
1.
Secret; clandestine; sly.
2.
Confused; disorderly; slovenly; mean;
as,
. hugger-mugger
doingsWebster 1828 Edition
Hugger-mugger
HUG'GER-MUGGER
,Noun.
In hugger-mugger, denotes in privacy or secrecy, and the word adverbially used, denotes secretly. [It is a low cant word.]
Definition 2024
hugger-mugger
hugger-mugger
See also: huggermugger
English
Alternative forms
Adjective
hugger-mugger (comparative more hugger-mugger, superlative most hugger-mugger)
- Secret, clandestine, sly.
- Disorderly, chaotic, confused.
- hugger-mugger doings
Synonyms
- See also Wikisaurus:covert
Noun
hugger-mugger (uncountable)
- (archaic) Secrecy.
- Shakespeare, Hamlet, act 4, scene 5
- We have done but greenly in hugger-mugger to inter him.
- Fuller:
- Many things have been done in hugger-mugger.
- Disorder.
- 1942, Rebecca West, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon (Canongate 2006), page 990:
- 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 2006), page 990:
Adverb
hugger-mugger (comparative more hugger-mugger, superlative most hugger-mugger)
- Secretly.
- Confusedly, in a muddle.