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
Our immigration policy is totally messed up, and has been for a long time, but that is different than a laser-focus on the physical border as an existential threat to our democracy.
—
Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 2 May 2024
Spilker said a hardware failure, perhaps as a result of age or because it was hit by radiation, likely messed up a small section of code in the memory of the computer.
—Denise Chow, NBC News, 26 Apr. 2024
Crucially, if the AI messes up, users can still go into ReelSphere to edit information.
—Emilia David, The Verge, 11 Apr. 2024
When their strike was over, sanitation workers cleaned the mess up themselves.
—Eric Lach, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
And for our players and staff to not feel safe in an NCAA tournament environment, it’s messed up.
—Rebecca Cohen, NBC News, 4 Apr. 2024
Industrialized engineering solutions have messed up the whole water system globally.
—Matt Simon, WIRED, 15 Mar. 2024
Life will always offer up little indignities and chances to mess up for Larry David.
—Esther Zuckerman, Rolling Stone, 8 Apr. 2024
Matt Damon messes up his math while also referencing his goofy Brett Kavanaugh impression.
—Andy Hoglund, EW.com, 7 Apr. 2024
Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 2 May 2024
Spilker said a hardware failure, perhaps as a result of age or because it was hit by radiation, likely messed up a small section of code in the memory of the computer.
—Denise Chow, NBC News, 26 Apr. 2024
Crucially, if the AI messes up, users can still go into ReelSphere to edit information.
—Emilia David, The Verge, 11 Apr. 2024
When their strike was over, sanitation workers cleaned the mess up themselves.
—Eric Lach, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
And for our players and staff to not feel safe in an NCAA tournament environment, it’s messed up.
—Rebecca Cohen, NBC News, 4 Apr. 2024
Industrialized engineering solutions have messed up the whole water system globally.
—Matt Simon, WIRED, 15 Mar. 2024
Life will always offer up little indignities and chances to mess up for Larry David.
—Esther Zuckerman, Rolling Stone, 8 Apr. 2024
Matt Damon messes up his math while also referencing his goofy Brett Kavanaugh impression.
—Andy Hoglund, EW.com, 7 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mess up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near mess up
Cite this Entry
“Mess up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mess%20up. Accessed 5 May. 2024.
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