as in fumbling
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 bollixing (up)
Verb
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Jones threw three interceptions while fumbling the ball three times - losing two - as Indianapolis picked up its second loss of the season.—
Andrew McCarty,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Nov. 2025 -
In Week 2, McCarthy played poorly, throwing two interceptions and fumbling three times.—
Ben Morse,
CNN Money,
29 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Try to find a place that will block blowing or falling debris.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
8 Nov. 2025
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What To Know In , the Kuskokwim Delta Coast and Nunivak Island are expected to see blowing snow and strong southeasterly winds from early Sunday morning through the afternoon.—
Martha McHardy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Nov. 2025
Verb
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After screwing up his job interview, Anders tries to see his sister, who’s been burned by him one too many times and sends her girlfriend to run interference.—
Margaret Talbot,
New Yorker,
3 Nov. 2025
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Best of all though is Reeves, channeling his own 1989 comic past from Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure or a bit of Todd Higgins from Parenthood to bring deadpan delight as the well-meaning but constantly screwing up angel trying to do good but being so bad at it.—
Pete Hammond,
Deadline,
7 Sep. 2025
Verb
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What's mucking up the process is a telepathic outlier named The Mule (Pilou Asbæk), whose ravenous appetite for galactic dominance has created anomalies in Seldon's branching prognostications of how this whole ordeal will unfold.—
Jeff Spry,
Space.com,
29 Aug. 2025
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The hydrogen flow keeps vaporized tin from mucking up the system’s optics.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
12 June 2023
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Cite this Entry
“Bollixing (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bollixing%20%28up%29. Accessed 9 Nov. 2025.
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