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
The recipe is super easy to follow, seemingly impossible to mess up, and the result was that my cookie tin was one of the first to be emptied at our annual cookie swap.
—
Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 27 Nov. 2025
There's the process that calls for starting it out breast side down — which messes up the skin.
—Susan Selasky, Freep.com, 26 Nov. 2025
These products are available because Congress messed up.
—Nicholas Florko, The Atlantic, 21 Nov. 2025
Listen, all this decor is cool, but if that food ain’t right, the holiday is messed up.
—Victoria Uwumarogie, Essence, 14 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mess up
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Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 27 Nov. 2025
There's the process that calls for starting it out breast side down — which messes up the skin.
—Susan Selasky, Freep.com, 26 Nov. 2025
These products are available because Congress messed up.
—Nicholas Florko, The Atlantic, 21 Nov. 2025
Listen, all this decor is cool, but if that food ain’t right, the holiday is messed up.
—Victoria Uwumarogie, Essence, 14 Nov. 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 30 Nov. 2025.
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