topsy-turviness

Alternative forms

• topsy-turvyness

Etymology

topsy-turvy +‎ -ness

Noun

topsy-turviness (uncountable)

1. The state or condition of being topsy-turvy, disorderly or muddled.
   • 1847, Gilbert Abbott à Beckett, The Comic History of England, London: Punch, Volume I, Book 4, Chapter 4, p. 278,

     Poor Margaret’s state of mind may have accounted for the tremendous topsy-turviness—to use a familiar expression—of her sentences.

   • 1863, Louisa May Alcott, Hospital Sketches, Boston: James Redpath, Chapter 6, p. 95,

     The ward master comes to the door of each room that is to be thinned, reads off a list of names, bids their owners look sharp and be ready when called for; and, as he vanishes, the rooms fall into an indescribable state of topsy-turvyness, as the boys begin to black their boots, brighten spurs, if they have them, overhaul knapsacks, make presents […]

   • 1901, G. K. Chesterton, “A Defence of Patriotism” in The Defendant, London: Dent, pp. 170-171,

     It is said […] that a vast amount of English grammar and literature is picked up in the course of learning Latin and Greek. This is perfectly true, but the topsy-turviness of the idea never seems to strike them. It is like saying that a baby picks up the art of walking in the course of learning to hop […]

   • 1910, Edith Wharton, “The Blond Beast” in Tales of Men and Ghosts, New York: Scribner, p. 312,

     This discovery gave the world a strange new topsy-turvyness, and set Millner’s theories spinning about his brain like the cabin furniture of a tossing ship.

   • 2016, Sean Williams, “The downfall of a Russian soccer team,” The New Yorker, 11 February, 2016,

     “It’s the curse,” he said, referencing Beria, for whose sins Dynamo, many say, has yet to atone. But the club’s predicament owes more to the topsy-turviness of Russian soccer than to some historic hoodoo.