mess up
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
The two continue fighting as Michael keeps insisting that Richie will mess up his kid.
—
Erin Jensen, USA Today, 8 May 2026
Jean had ideas for things that could get messed up as well.
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 7 May 2026
There’s some really messed up stuff happening at that farm.
—Glenn Garner, Deadline, 2 May 2026
Think of ranch water as a dressed down margarita that's hard to mess up.
—Kimberly Holland, Southern Living, 27 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for mess up
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Erin Jensen, USA Today, 8 May 2026
Jean had ideas for things that could get messed up as well.
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 7 May 2026
There’s some really messed up stuff happening at that farm.
—Glenn Garner, Deadline, 2 May 2026
Think of ranch water as a dressed down margarita that's hard to mess up.
—Kimberly Holland, Southern Living, 27 Apr. 2026
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 11 May. 2026.
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