as in fumbled
to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way
you've bollixed up the whole thing
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bollixed (up)
Verb
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Cornell fumbled with Mercader’s clothing, trying to find them.—
Josh Ireland,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Feb. 2026 -
When Kahn fumbled Rivaldo’s shot from the edge of the box, Ronaldo was on hand to convert the rebound.—
Michael Cox,
New York Times,
15 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Her claim might have languished there—Thompson also expressed suspicions that Talarico’s campaign was responsible for deleting her Instagram account—but Colin Allred saw her post and blew his stack.—
Tad Friend,
New Yorker,
23 Feb. 2026
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Continue reading … SALTY FEELING — Team Canada star, who blew wide-open net chance, makes telling comment about loss.—
,
FOXNews.com,
23 Feb. 2026
Verb
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That might be kind of screwed up.—
Patrick Saunders,
Denver Post,
21 Feb. 2026
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That seems like our priorities are screwed up.—
Terry Gross,
NPR,
19 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The girl in that story had her life ruined two decades ago.—
Amy Wallace,
Mercury News,
25 Feb. 2026
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Trump suggested that Democrats ruined the economy and drove up costs for Americans.—
Kevin Rector,
Los Angeles Times,
25 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Regardless, some of today’s foremost directors are channeling the days before bingeing applied to content, before art was dubbed content — back when all audiences needed was slo-mo running on a beach.—
Jami Ganz,
New York Daily News,
28 Feb. 2026
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And Paramount’s desire to buy WBD’s linear cable channels derailed the plan that was in the works to spin them off into a standalone company dubbed Discovery Global.—
Brent Lang,
Variety,
27 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Karaban almost had a costly turnover on an inbound play with 14 seconds left, but the Huskies fouled up three and Mulready split his free throw attempts, setting up the game-clinching freebies from the Huskies’ captain.—
Joe Arruda,
Hartford Courant,
15 Feb. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Bollixed (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bollixed%20%28up%29. Accessed 2 Mar. 2026.
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