Meanings
plural patchwork quilts
- literallyA decorative quilt made of pieces of cloth having diverse sizes, colors, and shapes, sewn together either to form a regular pattern or in a deliberately mismatched fashion without a pattern.
- broadlyfigurativelySomething having a haphazard or disorganized structure; something composed of seemingly random parts.
Despite a patchwork quilt of aid that includes scholarships, loans and an on-campus job, Kenner's father, a train conductor, must now pay $6,000 out of pocket to send his daughter to school.
1989 September 25, Susan Tifft et al., “Sticker Shock at the Ivory Tower”, in TimeSynonyms: hodgepodge, jumble
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSomething having a haphazard or disorganized structure; something composed of seemingly random parts.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna quilt made by sewing patches of different materials together
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Finnish tilkkutäkki, tilkkutäkki
- tilkkutäkkidecorative quilt
- tilkkutäkkidisorganized structure
German Patchworkdecke, Flickenteppich
- Patchworkdeckedecorative quilt
- Flickenteppichdisorganized structure
- Sammelsuriumdisorganized structure
Latin centō
- centōdecorative quilt
Norwegian Bokmål lappeteppe
- lappeteppedecorative quilt
Spanish colcha de parches
- colcha de parchesdecorative quilt
Swedish lapptäcke, sammelsurium
- lapptäckedecorative quilt
- sammelsuriumdisorganized structure
Cite this entry
patchwork quilt. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/patchwork%20quilt
“patchwork quilt.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/patchwork%20quilt. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “patchwork quilt,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/patchwork%20quilt.
Source: patchwork quilt on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.