Idiom
At sixes and sevens
If people or things are at sixes and sevens, they are confused, disorganized or in disagreement.
How people use it
It is mainly British and a little old-fashioned: "The office has been at sixes and sevens since the move." It can describe a messy situation or a group that can't agree. People often say they are "all at sixes and sevens," meaning flustered. Americans may know it from books but rarely use it. The tone is informal and a bit literary, and it describes a temporary state rather than a permanent one.
Also said: all at sixes and sevens.
Examples
- With guests arriving in an hour, the kitchen was at sixes and sevens.
- The team has been at sixes and sevens since the coach left.
- After the power cut, the whole hotel was all at sixes and sevens.
Where it comes from
The phrase comes from an old dice game. In the 1300s, Chaucer wrote of setting the world "on six and seven," which seems to have meant risking everything, perhaps on a careless throw of the dice. Over time the sense shifted from reckless risk to confusion and disorder, and the plural "sixes and sevens" became standard. A popular story ties it to a quarrel between two London trade guilds over sixth and seventh place in processions, but the phrase already existed before that dispute.
Check yourself
1. What does it mean if a household is at sixes and sevens?
Answer: It is confused and disorganized. At sixes and sevens means in a state of confusion or disorder.
2. Where does the phrase probably come from?
Answer: An old dice game. Chaucer's "six and seven" seems to refer to risky throws in a dice game.
Word game fan? See every word hiding in SIXES.