mess up
phrasal verb
messed up; messing up; messes up
informal
: to make a mistake : to do something incorrectly
About halfway into the recipe, I realized that I had messed up, and I had to start over.
—often + onShe's afraid she'll mess up on the test.
I messed up on my first attempt.
Examples of mess up in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase messed up Orton's chance to win the title, and then DiBiase hit Orton with a pipe in a match.
—
Andrew Ravens, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Mar. 2025
The boxer has gotten messed up in some serious allegations but has not been arrested at this time.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 21 Mar. 2025
Her son simply made a statistical calculation based on probability theory and realized that the odds of both lunches being wrong were considerably different from the odds of a single order getting messed up.
—Rob Long, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 21 Mar. 2025
Xfinity messing up Nathan MacKinnon’s 1,000th point — F
Geez.
—Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 15 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mess up
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Andrew Ravens, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Mar. 2025
The boxer has gotten messed up in some serious allegations but has not been arrested at this time.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 21 Mar. 2025
Her son simply made a statistical calculation based on probability theory and realized that the odds of both lunches being wrong were considerably different from the odds of a single order getting messed up.
—Rob Long, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 21 Mar. 2025
Xfinity messing up Nathan MacKinnon’s 1,000th point — F
Geez.
—Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 15 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mess up
Cite this Entry
“Mess up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mess%20up. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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