screwup

noun

screw·up | \ ˈskrü-ˌəp

Definition of screwup

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : one who screws up

2 : botch, blunder

screw up

verb

screwed up; screwing up; screws up

Definition of screw up (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to tighten, fasten, or lock by or as if by a screw

2a : bungle, botch

b : to cause to act or function in a crazy or confused way : confound, disturb

intransitive verb

: to botch an activity or undertaking

Synonyms Example Sentences Learn More about screwup

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Examples of screwup in a Sentence

Noun

That was a major screwup. She's a screwup who can't hold down a job.

Verb

we all screw up from time to time, so don't sweat it you've totally screwed up the spreadsheet

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

The project—and tight-fisted Congress—probably can't handle more cleaning solvent screwups. — Eric Niiler, WIRED, "Delays, Rising Costs Plague NASA's James Webb Space Telescope," 27 June 2018 Irgo never expressed any desire to see Japan, but the 10-year-old German Shepard found himself on an unexpected flight from Denver to the Tokyo area thanks to a United Airlines screwup Tuesday. — Andrew Theen, OregonLive.com, "From Salem to Denver to Japan: A dog's unplanned journey to the Far East thanks to United Airlines," 14 Mar. 2018 Even the president is said to have worried about the beating the young pair, especially his beloved daughter, have taken in the press for their screwups and failures. — The Editors Of Gq, GQ, "The 50 Most Powerful People In Trump’s Washington*," 22 Feb. 2018 Well, a lot of things: more positive attitudes about the GOP tax bill (which Democrats never stopped attacking); more economic optimism; and a stretch of time when President Trump didn’t dominate the news with some fresh hellish screwup. — Ed Kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, "Is Democratic Cooperation With Trump Depressing Supporters?," 11 Feb. 2018 There have been screwups on the field, questionable decisions from the managers, the usual foibles that have critics pointing the fingers of blame. — Bruce Jenkins, San Francisco Chronicle, "It’s Game 7, as it should be, in the World Series," 31 Oct. 2017 In the end, a diluted version of the government screwup that took Barb's (Shannon Purser) life is exposed, catapulting Hawkins into the national spotlight. — Ashley Hoffman, Time, "Stranger Things," 27 Oct. 2017 Miazga meanders in his analysis but his takeaway is simple enough: both Byrnes and Legg were screwups. — Justin Nobel, Longreads, "Atomic City," 5 Sep. 2017 The whole thing was filmed in one session, screwups and all. — Elise Taylor, Vogue, "5 Fascinating Things You Didn’t Know About Julia Child, America’s Most Beloved Chef," 15 Aug. 2017

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

There are organizations devoted to catching me screw up. — Fox News, "2014 photo of detained children used as swipe against Trump," 3 June 2018 Who is going to buy oil on Christmas eve with these shenanigans going on, with stocks going down, Trump blaming the Fed and [Treasury Secretary] Mnuchin screwing up by calling bankers. — Neanda Salvaterra, WSJ, "U.S. Oil Prices Fall to 18-Month Low as Wall Street Tumbles," 24 Dec. 2018 One hypothesis for the cause of this bug is a conflict with the automatic date and time settings, which screwed up the chronology of texts. — Alexander George, Popular Mechanics, "Why Your iMessage Is Misbehaving and How to Fix It," 8 Nov. 2018 He's now created an insane conspiracy theory for his screw up. — Emily Stewart, Vox, "Rudy Giuliani’s bizarre Twitter conspiracy theory, explained," 5 Dec. 2018 So, all signs point to them having a boy, unless someone screwed up the release. — The Editors, Marie Claire, "Dakota Johnson Responds to Reports She's Pregnant With Chris Martin's Child," 8 Oct. 2018 So Question One is, what happens when Sam Bee screws up? — Recode Staff, Recode, "Full transcript: Recode’s Peter Kafka on Too Embarrassed to Ask," 28 June 2018 What happens when the person carrying the name screws up? — William Bender, Philly.com, "Abington High School won't be renamed after billionaire donor Schwarzman," 31 Mar. 2018 Taken together, screw ups are mind-boggling in scope, affecting tens of millions of people. — Casey Newton, The Verge, "22 predictions for social media in 2019," 15 Dec. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'screwup.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.