/ ˈʃæmblz; NAmE / noun [ sing. ] ( informal )
1.
a situation in which there is a lot of confusion
SYN mess :
The press conference was a complete shambles.
What a shambles!
The government is in a shambles over Europe.
2.
a place which is dirty or untidy
SYN mess :
The house was a shambles.
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WORD ORIGIN
late Middle English (in the sense meat market ): plural of earlier shamble stool, stall , of West Germanic origin, from Latin scamellum , diminutive of scamnum bench.