Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun UK A situation that is bad or mismanaged in every way.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

omni- +‎ shambles. Coined by the television show The Thick of It in 2009.

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Examples

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  • A major snafu. Apparently a term popularised by a British tv program.

    November 13, 2012

  • the worthless word for the day is: omnishambles

    omni-, all + shambles

    Brit. a situation that has been comprehensively

    mismanaged, characterized by a string of blunders

    and miscalculations; a complete screw-up in all areas

    "'Omnishambles' is the word they are using in Downing

    Street these days to describe the series of self-

    inflicted political disasters that have engulfed the

    prime minister, David Cameron, and his coalition

    government."

    - Independent, Dec. 07 2012

    "Today Oxford University Press announces omnishambles

    as Oxford Dictionaries UK Word of the Year 2012.

    Originally used in the British political comedy

    television series The Thick of It, omnishambles has

    gained momentum throughout 2012 as a word used to

    describe a comprehensively mismanaged situation,

    characterized by a shambolic string of blunders."

    - OxfordWords blog, 13 Nov. 2012

    December 18, 2012