From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbe (in) a shamblesbe (in) a shamblesinformal a) if something is a shambles, it is very disorganized and there is a lot of confusion The meeting was a shambles from start to finish. The economy is in a complete shambles. b) if a place is a shambles, it is very untidy SYN mess My house is in an absolute shambles. → shambles
Examples from the Corpus
be (in) a shambles• The apartment was in shambles and the kids in a frenzy.• But the room, the target of a 1968 arson, was in a shambles.• By October 1952, when we left Pusan, the corrupt Rhee government was in shambles.• It was a shambles last year.• Much around Lilly is in shambles.• The scrums, in particular, were a shambles, with Haslemere being driven off their own ball.• It is all out of order because the preliminaries are a shambles.• Instead, his side were a shambles again, a disgrace. 