These words are alike in referring to a disordered condition or to a confused or heterogeneous mixture of elements. Jumble and muddle both suggest conditions of extreme disorderliness resulting in confusion. Jumble suggests physical disorderliness, a lack of neatness, and brings to mind objects strewn about carelessly: The room was a jumble of books, papers and clothes. Muddle suggests the lack of clear or coherent organization, and commonly refers to mental or intellectual disorder – confused thinking.

• The club records were in a complete muddle – no one even knew how much money was in the treasury; Income-tax returns always put him in a muddle ; in a drunken muddle of misdirected antagonism.

Conglomeration and mélange refer to heterogeneous collections of things. Both words often carry critical overtones, suggesting that the collection is random or inapposite: a curious conglomeration of witticisms, quotations, word games and other linguistic legerdemain, entertaining enough but lacking any overall plan of organization. Mélange more vigorously suggests inaptness or incongruity, and is sometimes used derisively or contemptuously: a mélange of beatniks, middle-class matrons and television executives. Medley and farrago both refer to confused mixtures or masses of elements. Medley emphasizes the variegated, heterogeneous nature of the elements. Medley emphasizes the variegated, heterogeneous nature of the elements that composed it, whereas farrago emphasizes the irrational or confused juxtaposition of those elements. A medley is necessarily various, but not necessarily composed of inharmonious or clashing elements: a medley of flavours; a dance medley . Farrago strikes a balance somewhere between conglomeration and mess : a farrago of outmoded ideas and half-understood theories.

Mess is the most general word of this set as well as one of the strongest. In the sense here considered it means a hopeless jumble of elements resulting in a state of confusion, or the confused state itself. It may refer either to physical disorder (After the procession ended, the street was a mess ), sloppiness or slovenliness (The manuscript was a mess , full of inkblots, erasures and deletions), or to any thoroughly disorganized condition (He’s mad a mess of his life).

Hodge-podge (or, as it is sometimes spelt and pronounced, hotch-potch ), potpourri , and olla podrida all refer in one sense to stews having a variety of ingredients. All commonly refer also to any miscellaneous collection of elements. Hodge-podge , as well as the stronger term mish-mash , emphasizes disorganization; they are the figurative analogues to an actual jumble of objects.

• The musical comedy was a hodge-podge of sentimental cliché, coy sexuality and jingoistic claptrap.

Hodge-podge bespeaks a lack of intelligent guidance or rational coherence. Mish-mash , the most directly contemptuous word of this group, is often used to suggest a badly mismanaged or botched undertaking, resulting in confusion and chaos: His heralded new political programme turned out to be nothing more than the usual mish-mash of stale slogans, unrealistic promises and insincere flattery. Potpourri , as here considered, points to the lack of uniformity or similarity of elements, and may imply a lack of discrimination or restraint as well: The film was a potpourri of slapstick, melodrama and bowdlerized history, in spite of which it still managed to include some genuinely funny moments. Olla podrida , borrowed from the Spanish, and olio , derived from olla , are both mainly American, and suggest a miscellaneous collection or medley of elements: an olio of political sentiment, ranging from the radical to the reactionary.