Word.ws English Dictionary

all sixes and nines

all sixes and nines prepositional phrase: in a state of confusion.

Prepositional phrase

  1. (idiomatic) In a state of confusion.
    • Dear Kori,
      I'm all sixes and nines ... whatever that means. Fragments of me are loosely hanging together.2015 June 15, Kathari Findlen, Meeting in the Space Between: A Story of Grief, Grace and Gratitude, Balboa Press, →ISBN, →OCLC
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see all, sixes, and, nines.
    • Do you see anything funny about the tail number? It is all sixes and nines!2008, G. E McIlmoyle, L. R. Bromley, Remembering the Dragon Lady, People Stories Unlimited, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 443

Questions about all sixes and nines

What does all sixes and nines mean?
All sixes and nines means in a state of confusion.
What part of speech is all sixes and nines?
All sixes and nines is a prepositional phrase.

Words near all sixes and nines in the dictionary

  1. all show and no go
  2. all show, no go
  3. all sing, no dance
  4. all singing, all dancing
  5. all Sir Garnet
  6. all sixes and nines
  7. all sixes and sevens
  8. all sizzle and no steak
  9. all skin and bones
  10. all smiles
  11. All Souls

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: all sixes and nines (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-all sixes and nines.ogg.

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