# shambles

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈʃæmbəlz/ · frequency rank #25,201

## Definitions
1. A scene of great disorder or ruin.
2. A great mess or clutter.
3. A scene of bloodshed, carnage or devastation.
4. A slaughterhouse.
5. A butcher's shop.

## Etymology
From Middle English schamels, plural of schamel, from Old English sċeamol, sċamul (“bench, stool”), from Proto-West Germanic *skamul, *skamil (“stool, bench”), from Vulgar Latin scamellum, from Latin scamillum (“little bench, ridge”), from Latin scamnum (“bench, ridge, breadth of a field”).

## Easily confused with
- **shameless** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shambles-vs-shameless)

## Common misspellings (13)
`hsambles`, `sahmbles`, `shabmles`, `shambbles`, `shambels`, `shambless`, `shamblles`, `shamblse`, `shamlbes`, `shammbles`, `shhambles`, `shmables`, `sshambles`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/shambles