How to Use mess in a Sentence

mess

1 of 2 noun

• The school system is a mess.
• My hair is a mess.
• My life is a complete mess.
• She was a real mess for a while after her divorce.
• Things were a real mess for a while after she retired.
• He was a mess after gardening all day.
• How do we get ourselves into these messes?
• Well, that's another fine mess you've gotten me into!
• He was a mess during his daughter's wedding ceremony.
• None of the mess has stopped Nick the Boss from closing deals, though.
  — Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 25 Oct. 2023
• Make sure to place a plate under the grater while shredding for less mess.
  — Molly Allen, Southern Living, 4 Jan. 2024
• Some would say the hearing was a mess of her own making.
  — Robin Givhan, Washington Post, 16 Feb. 2024
• Here are some knee jerk reactions: The bullpen is a mess.
  — Evan Grant, Dallas News, 26 Apr. 2023
• Just how much of a mess can children make at a restaurant?
  — Sabrina Weiss, Peoplemag, 6 Aug. 2023
• For all the mess Jimmy has made of their lives, none of it is likely to matter much in the end.
  — Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Sep. 2023
• Does the nature of the mess (stuff left out vs mud on the floor, for example) matter?
  — oregonlive, 11 July 2023
• What should have been a light summer romp is a boring mess.
  — Dallasnews.com Staff, Dallas News, 7 Sep. 2023
• On the 29th you’re called on to sort out other people’s messes.
  — Debbie Frank, Peoplemag, 10 Apr. 2024
• But that’s why this is a mess — one very much of the governor’s own making.
  — Erika D. Smith, Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2023
• Davis would have swatted or altered or just plain stopped much of that mess.
  — Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 17 Mar. 2024
• That meant that the VFX team was tasked with fixing the mess in postproduction.
  — Tatiana Siegel, Variety, 1 Nov. 2023
• Eton mess, made with wild strawberries and basil syrup.
  — Aimee Farrell, New York Times, 5 Oct. 2023
• The Jeffries suggestion was one of the few rational ideas to come out of this mess.
  — WSJ, 27 Oct. 2023
• The tourism surge has led to a housing crisis, a water shortage and a traffic mess.
  — Jack Herrera, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2023
• The House of Representatives is a mess, and two parties have to live there.
  — Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 5 Oct. 2023
• And what a distraction from the mess he’s created!
  — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 11 Jan. 2026
• For this type of mess, Phillips suggests using a cleanser labeled explicitly for gas fireplace glass.
  — Katie Cloyd, Martha Stewart, 10 Jan. 2026
• The college football calendar is a mess.
  — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 9 Jan. 2026
• Often my timeline is a mess of the horrors of the world.
  — Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 9 Jan. 2026
• Possibly the most interesting mess of this era.
  — Chris Branch, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2026

mess

2 of 2 verb

• The biggest part of me just doesn’t want to mess it up.
  — oregonlive, 14 May 2021
• The rollout of the wireless tech could mess up your next flight.
  — Brett Molina, USA TODAY, 24 Dec. 2021
• But if the zebras on the field and the zebras above them mess up on the same play, that’s a problem.
  — Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Nov. 2022
• Why would players want to cheat, or at least find ways to mess with the new rules?
  — Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle, 10 Sep. 2022
• But something has to go very, very wrong for a film to mess up that kind of premise.
  — Lindsey Bahr, Star Tribune, 16 June 2021
• This way, no one else could connect and mess with things.
  — Wired, 13 Aug. 2022
• And the simple act of removing a book to read can mess things up.
  — Laurie Hertzel, Star Tribune, 16 July 2021
• The handy rule of thumb is don’t mess with those cranky carnivores.
  — Lance Eliot, Forbes, 6 May 2021
• King, please don’t mess this up, all of the U.K. and very specific parts of the U.S. are counting on you.
  — Charlotte Walsh, Vulture, 17 July 2021
• No need to mess with bottles ever again, just reach out and the Pulse will take care of it.
  — Jaina Grey, WIRED, 27 Nov. 2022
• This meant there were few things that would mess with a black-bear-size penguin.
  — Jack Tamisiea, New York Times, 8 Feb. 2023
• This feature is for those who want to be safer online but don't want to mess with the nuts and bolts.
  — Anthony Karcz, Forbes, 13 Sep. 2021
• Why: Never mess with a woman dressed in head-to-toe black.
  — Claire Stern, ELLE, 23 Dec. 2022
• The Killing of a Sacred Deer, in turn with the rest of this list, is a movie that will mess with your mind in a major way.
  — Evan Romano, Men's Health, 30 Aug. 2022
• Unlike the New York court, the Florida court declined to mess with the map close to the election.
  — Nicholas Riccardi, BostonGlobe.com, 24 Aug. 2022
• The Americans weren’t ever supposed to mess up the 4x100.
  — BostonGlobe.com, 6 Aug. 2021
• Haters should know not to mess with Billie and her tomato corset.
  — Carolyn Twersky, Seventeen, 12 July 2021
• Let Aidan’s mistake be a lesson for all: Don’t mess with a girl’s shoes.
  — Eliza Huber, refinery29.com, 25 May 2021
• Tunsil too much money to mess up the show we were supposed to have one-on-one.
  — Mary Kay Cabot, cleveland, 25 Sep. 2021
• Paying money for a workout class only to mess up my hair and be stinky for the rest of the day?
  — Tatjana Freund, Marie Claire, 12 May 2021
• That someone above Maya is someone Kate will not want to mess with.
  — Chris Smith, BGR, 1 Dec. 2021
• Why should the show go back and mess with a story that already felt so complete?
  — Caroline Framke, Variety, 13 Apr. 2022
• So a lot of us in Argentina are rooting for these capybaras to mess with the rich and out of touch.
  — Gabriela Miranda, USA TODAY, 2 Sep. 2021
• The attitude is as follows: If times are good, why mess up a good thing?
  — WSJ, 17 Mar. 2022
• Kids can color in the book, but the markers won’t mess up their clothes, the fold-down tray or the person sitting next to you.
  — Scott McMurren, Anchorage Daily News, 6 Nov. 2022
• Don’t let anyone mess with your plans or belief in yourself and this period can pass you by.
  — Magi Helena, Dallas Morning News, 16 Jan. 2026
• Thermals can also really mess with a wind call.
  — John B. Snow, Outdoor Life, 15 Jan. 2026
• Welcome to Hells Kitchen son @oscarjramsay don't mess it up please !
  — Emily Weaver, PEOPLE, 29 Dec. 2025
• The safest bet is that the Dolphins will find a way to mess it up.
  — Miami Herald, 21 Dec. 2025
• Somebody does something terrible and messes it up.
  — Giana Levy, Variety, 31 Oct. 2025