katzenjammer Hear it!

katzenjammer definition

☆ katz·en·jam·mer (kats′ən jam′ər)

noun

  1. a farcical quality; travesty
  2. a bewildering hodgepodge or distressing confusion
  3. a severe headache, esp. as part of a hangover

Etymology: Ger < katze, cat + jammer, woe < OHG jamar, orig. adj., sad, akin to OE geomor, miserable: katzenjammersense infl. by U.S. cartoon strip (The Katzenjammer Kids), originated (1897) by R. Dirks

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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