alphabet soup

noun

: a hodgepodge especially of initials (as of the names of organizations)

Synonyms

• agglomerate
• agglomeration
• assortment
• botch
• clutter
• collage
• crazy quilt
• farrago
• gallimaufry
• grab bag
• gumbo
• hash
• hodgepodge
• hotchpotch
• jambalaya
• jumble
• jungle
• litter
• macédoine
• medley
• mélange
• menagerie
• miscellanea
• miscellany
• mishmash
• mixed bag
• montage
• motley
• muddle
• olio
• olla podrida
• omnium-gatherum
• pastiche
• patchwork
• patchwork quilt
• potpourri
• ragbag
• ragout
• rummage
• salad
• salmagundi
• scramble
• shuffle
• smorgasbord
• stew
• tumble
• variety
• welter

Examples of alphabet soup in a Sentence

a bowl of alphabet soup

the alphabet soup of designer drugs that were available to patrons of the once-notorious disco

Recent Examples on the Web

Representing an alphabet soup of agencies with various levels of tenure, each worker is paired up and dispatched to a Senator's office to share their stories. —Nikole Killion, CBS News, 25 Feb. 2025

Managing an outbreak requires coordination across an alphabet soup of agencies and programs; an EIS fellow may have investigated the first COVID case, but that of course didn’t stop the pandemic from happening. —Nicholas Florko, The Atlantic, 20 Feb. 2025

By Malena Carollo | CalMatters Making sense of the alphabet soup of charges on a monthly power bill is challenge enough. —Calmatters, The Mercury News, 30 Jan. 2025

What does Medigap cover? Buying Medigap can be daunting, since the policies come in an alphabet soup of lettered plan choices (A, B, C, D, F, G, K, L, M and N). —Mark Miller, New York Times, 15 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1884, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for alphabet soup

• coop
• coupe
• croup
• droop
• drupe
• dupe
• group
• hoop
• loop
• lupe
• oop
• poop