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Mélange got mixed into the melting pot of English back in the 1600s. It derives from the Middle French verb mesler, which means "to mix." "Mélange" is actually one of several French contributions to the English body of words for miscellaneous mixtures. "Pastiche" (meaning "a composition made up of selections of different works," or broadly, "a disorderly mixture, hodgepodge") is borrowed from French, and "medley" and "potpourri" have roots in French, too. There's also the lesser known "gallimaufry" (meaning "hodgepodge"), which comes from the Middle French galimafree (meaning "stew").
Synonyms
- agglomerate
- agglomeration
- alphabet soup
- assortment
- botch
- clutter
- collage
- crazy quilt
- farrago
- gallimaufry
- grab bag
- gumbo
- hash
- hodgepodge
- hotchpotch
- jambalaya
- jumble
- jungle
- litter
- macédoine
- medley
- 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 mélange in a Sentence
Caroline Reid, Forbes, 18 Jan. 2025
After gatherings that seemed like a melange of Business Roundtable mixer, U.N. General Assembly and the congressional gym, the seat of his new government moves north.
—Jennifer Jacobs, CBS News, 18 Jan. 2025
Advertisement By any measure, the immediate future of Syria will be an unstable and potentially violent melange of competing groups, intense jockeying for power and settling of scores.
—Tracy Wilkinson, Los Angeles Times, 8 Dec. 2024
Travel in June for the St. Kitts Music Festival, an annual three-day fete that brings local artists together with international stars representing a melange of genres, from R&B and soul to soca and calypso.
—Carley Rojas Avila, Travel + Leisure, 4 Dec. 2024
The video, funded by the Trump campaign, features a melange of Latin-ish stuff, like Cuban musical motifs and Mexican folk dancers.
—Jp Brammer, Los Angeles Times, 30 Oct. 2024
The film follows the fate of the planet Arrakis—and its supply of melange, a unique spice and the most valuable substance in the universe—which rests in the hands of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), the untested son of a powerful duke.
—Jennifer M. Wood, WIRED, 29 Oct. 2024
The track is a tender plea for unity built around dextrous acoustic guitars and a melange of light percussion, while Wonder also laces it with piano, bass, harmonica, and more.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 30 Aug. 2024
The Fenty mogul wore a sharp, double-breasted gray melange suit from Vivienne Westwood’s fall 2023 collection.
—Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 14 Oct. 2024
Dictionary Entries Near mélange
Cite this Entry
“Mélange.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/m%C3%A9lange. Accessed 29 Jan. 2025.
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