topsy-turvy

1. 1.

   in a disordered manner

   “they were piled up higgledy-piggledy”

   Synonymshiggledy-piggledy
2. 2.

   in disorderly haste

   “we ran head over heels toward the shelter”

   Synonymshead over heelsheels over headtopsy-turvilyin great confusion

1. 1.

   in utter disorder

   “a disorderly pile of clothes”

   Synonymsdisorderlyhiggledy-piggledyhugger-muggerjumbled

   Similaruntidy

Questions about topsy-turvy

What does topsy-turvy mean?

topsy-turvy means "in a disordered manner". That is the primary sense; the word has 3 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in topsy-turvy?

topsy-turvy has 4 syllables: top-sy--tur-vy. The stress falls on "top". In IPA it is /ˈtɑpsiˈtɝvi/.

What is another word for topsy-turvy?

Close synonyms include higgledy-piggledy, head over heels, heels over head, topsy-turvily, in great confusion. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is topsy-turvy a common word?

topsy-turvy is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.