What does hotchpotch mean?
A hotchpotch is an assortment of different people, things, styles, or ideas gathered together without a clear organizing principle. The term often implies that the mixture is irregular, eclectic, or even confusing: a hotchpotch collection might combine paintings, letters, and recordings without an obvious thematic connection. When applied to a group of people, it emphasizes the varied or unexpected backgrounds of its members without necessarily implying hostility or disorder. The word can be mildly disparaging when the mixture is perceived as badly coordinated, but it may also be approving when it describes a creative, deliberately eclectic collection. Hotchpotch is especially common in British English; American speakers more often use hodgepodge, although both forms are understood on both sides of the Atlantic. The word is useful when variety itself is the central idea and some degree of incongruity is expected or appreciated.
nounA collection of assorted or unrelated things brought together without an organizing principle. It may also refer to a confused mixture of people, styles, or influences.
- A collection of assorted or unrelated things.
- A mixture in which different elements combine without clear order or unity.
- A person or group made up of a diverse, incongruous collection of people.
"The final chapter was a hotchpotch of anecdotes, quotations, and half-remembered songs."
"The exhibition presented a hotchpotch of traditional crafts, contemporary art, and experimental music."
"The committee was a hotchpotch of academics, local officials, and community activists."
The regular plural is hotchpotches.
"The galleries were filled with hotchpotches of furniture, textiles, and found objects."
It grew from a literal hot pot into a linguistic one: first a stew, then a deliciously unruly mixture of words, styles, and ideas.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does hotchpotch come from?
The word developed from hotch-pot, a dish in which ingredients were cooked together, and the culinary sense was extended metaphorically to a miscellaneous mixture. The form hotchpotch was also influenced by hodgepodge, an older word for a confused collection, which remains a standard variant. Both words now commonly describe a jumble of disparate elements brought together in one collection.
Related word forms
How hotchpotch is actually used
The word is chiefly associated with British English and is formal or literary in tone. It often suggests that the elements of a collection are heterogeneous, confused, or imperfectly matched. In American English, hodgepodge is more usual.
Easily confused with hotchpotch
The two words have essentially the same meaning, but hodgepodge is the more common form in American English, while hotchpotch is especially associated with British usage.