shambolic

shambles +‎ -o- +‎ -ic, in which the interconsonantal -o- avoids the /mbl/ consonant cluster. Possibly influenced by symbolic.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ʃamˈbɒlɪk/
• (General American) enPR: shăm(')bŏlʹĭk, IPA^(key): /(ˌ)ʃæmˈbɑlɪk/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ʃæmˈbɔlɪk/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒlɪk
• Hyphenation: sham‧bol‧ic

shambolic (comparative more shambolic, superlative most shambolic)

1. (Australia, Britain) Chaotic, disorganised or mismanaged. [from c. 1960s–1970s]
   • 1994, Timothy O'Riordan; James Cameron, “The History and Contemporary Significance of the Precautionary Principle”, in Tim O'Riordan and James Cameron, editors, Interpreting the Precautionary Principle, London: Earthscan, →ISBN, page 12:

     The precautionary principle is a culturally framed concept that takes its cue from changing social conceptions about the appropriate roles of science, economics, ethics, politics and the law in pro-active environmental protection and management. As this book will reveal, it is a rather shambolic concept, muddled in policy advice and subject to the whims of international diplomacy and the unpredictable public mood over the true cost of sustainable living.

   • 2000, China Miéville, Perdido Street Station, London: Macmillan Publishers, →ISBN, page 24:

     The pub was empty of all but the most dedicated drinkers, shambolic figures huddled over bottles.

   • 2013, Philip Murphy, “Winds of Change and the Royal Family”, in Monarchy and the End of Empire: The House of Windsor, the British Government, and the Postwar Commonwealth, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 66:

     The shabby subterfuge surrounding Suez [the Suez Crisis], as much as its shambolic aftermath, have made it a symbol of the collapse of British global power in the post-war era.

   • 2014 October 22, Graham Michael Barton, “Distribution”, in Show Me the Money: Where Did All the Aid and Money Go after Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines November 2013, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 5:

     During normal times, distribution of goods or services to over 7,000 islands [in the Philippines] is difficult, and the reality is that on a day-to-day basis, it's shambolic. There are too many examples of corruption and inefficiency.

• shambolically
• shambolism

• omnishambles
• sham
• shambles

• “shambolic” in Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary.
• “shambolic” (US) / “shambolic” (UK) in Oxford Dictionaries, Oxford University Press.

• choliambs