gum·bo
ˈgəm-(ˌ)bō 
plural gumbos
1
: a soup thickened with okra pods or filé and containing meat or seafoods and usually vegetables
2
3
a
: any of various fine-grained silty soils especially of the central U.S. that when wet become impervious and soapy or waxy and very sticky
b
: a heavy sticky mud
gumbo
adjective
Synonyms
Noun (1)
- agglomerate
- agglomeration
- alphabet soup
- assortment
- botch
- clutter
- collage
- crazy quilt
- farrago
- gallimaufry
- grab bag
- 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 gumbo in a Sentence
Noun (1)
drew his artistic inspiration from the city's rich gumbo of musical styles
Recent Examples on the Web
Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 6 Sep. 2024
One of our readers loves making chili and her grandmother’s vegetable beef soup, while another is keen on serving up a big pot of gumbo.
—Symiah Dorsey, Southern Living, 2 Sep. 2024
Take a hobby class Learn how to make gumbo at the New Orleans School of Cooking, blow your own glass ornament at New Orleans Glassworks, become an expert glitter applicator at NOLA Craft Culture and learn how to sew at ricRACK.
—Carlie Kollath Wells, Axios, 15 July 2024
As the band Justice, Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay have mastered the art of the cosmic gumbo: electronic music that traipses across the funk-disco-house continuum but also nods to the headbanging sounds of arenas past, whether progressive rock or heavy metal.
—Chris Kelly, Washington Post, 24 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for gumbo 
Noun
For a Cajun flair, start your meal with a bowl of turtle soup or seafood and andouille gumbo.
—Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 6 Sep. 2024
One of our readers loves making chili and her grandmother’s vegetable beef soup, while another is keen on serving up a big pot of gumbo.
—Symiah Dorsey, Southern Living, 2 Sep. 2024
Take a hobby class Learn how to make gumbo at the New Orleans School of Cooking, blow your own glass ornament at New Orleans Glassworks, become an expert glitter applicator at NOLA Craft Culture and learn how to sew at ricRACK.
—Carlie Kollath Wells, Axios, 15 July 2024
As the band Justice, Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay have mastered the art of the cosmic gumbo: electronic music that traipses across the funk-disco-house continuum but also nods to the headbanging sounds of arenas past, whether progressive rock or heavy metal.
—Chris Kelly, Washington Post, 24 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for gumbo
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gumbo.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near gumbo
Cite this Entry
“Gumbo.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gumbo. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.
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