rigmarole means characterized by rigmarole; prolix; tedious. It carries an Arena rating of 1787, earned across 21 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, rigmarole ranks #68 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #319 of 17,163 for Funniest Words, #424 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #451 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words.
rigmarole is pronounced /ˈɹɪɡməɹəʊl/.
Why “rigmarole” is a great word
A long, complicated, and often nonsensical or pointlessly tedious process or discourse. From the Middle English term 'ragman roll' (a long scroll or list, especially of legal charges), with the modern form 'rigmarole' first attested around 1736. Unlike 'procedure', a neutral sequence of steps, or 'palaver', which can imply purposeful negotiation, a rigmarole is a ritual of the absurd. It is the jumbled incantation of bureaucratic forms in triplicate, the labyrinth of paperwork required to prove you are who you have always been, and the ceremonial unlocking of a door that was never truly closed—an elaborate ceremony society invents to dignify its own obstructions.
Etymology
From ragman roll (“long list; catalogue”). Recorded since c1736.
adj
- Characterized by rigmarole; prolix; tedious.e.g.“This is a most rigmarole letter, for after each sentence, I take breath[…]” — 1838 September 14, Charles Darwin, To Charles Lyell; republished as “Letter no. 428”, in Darwin Correspondence Project, University of Cambridge, 2023, retrieved 23 May 2024:
noun
- A long and complicated formal procedure.e.g.“Have you seen all the rigmarole you have to go through at airport security these days?”
- Confused and incoherent talk; nonsense.e.g.“If you are alluding to Dostoevski’s worst novels, then, indeed, I dislike intensely The Karamazov Brothers and the ghastly Crime and Punishment rigmarole.”
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.