botches 1 of 2

noun

plural of botch
as in jumbles
an unorganized collection or mixture of various things this police procedural is basically a botch of plot elements stolen from other (and better) novels

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

botches

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of botch
as in fumbles
to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way the first time we tried to make a cake, we botched the job completely

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of botches
Noun
During last week's WWE SmackDown, a series of mistakes and botches drew harsh criticism from fans. — Matthew Couden, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Sep. 2025
Verb
In clinical environments bound by federal regulations and ethics guidelines, an LLM that hallucinates an endpoint or botches eligibility criteria does not just cause a minor hiccup. — Anshima Raj, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2026 Then the candidate, unfamiliar with some far-away region of the world, botches it. — Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 20 Aug. 2026 But there’s nothing shocking or subversive about this movie, which plays like proficient, forgettable straight-to-streaming fare for the first ninety minutes and then botches its big, bloody finale. — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 27 May 2026 Continue reading … FACT CHECK – Washington Post botches Israel-Gaza history leading to major correction. — FOXNews.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for botches
  1. jumbles
  2. fumbles
  3. varieties
  4. blows
  5. assortments
  6. bungles
  7. medleys
  8. collages
Noun
  • Arches and natural bridges sweep like buttresses from jumbles of rock, giving this landscape a mystical, cathedral-like quality.
    — Madison Chapman, Outside, 25 Mar. 2026
  • Macaroons are chewy jumbles of coconut bound together with egg whites and sweetened condensed milk.
    — Lynda Balslev, Mercury News, 10 Feb. 2026
Definition of jumbles
Verb
  • So the associate who fumbles a membership conversation doesn’t need a lecture.
    — Zaharia-Gabriel Sidere, Forbes.com, 16 Oct. 2026
  • DeLand was driving inside the 20 yard line and Taihj Moore fumbles, recovered by Lake Mary.
    — Buddy Collings, The Orlando Sentinel, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of fumbles
Noun
  • Holt Renfrew shoppers can also purchase a selection of caviars, including Baeri, Kaluga, and Royal Ossetra varieties along with mother-of-pearl caviar spoons, ceramic ashtrays, and other collectibles.
    — Miles Socha, Footwear News, 7 Nov. 2026
  • However, removing these roses frees up space, reduces fungal disease and makes room for vigorous varieties that bring pure joy.
    — Rita Perwich, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Nov. 2026
Definition of varieties
Verb
  • The war in Iran, high gas prices, the stubbornly high cost of living, and blows to Trump’s popularity all contributed against the Republicans.
    — Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 4 Nov. 2026
  • As Paladin drives off, contract finally fulfilled, an estate guard with a rocket launcher blows his murder-van into flaming wreckage.
    — Tasha Robinson, Vulture, 4 Nov. 2026
Definition of blows
Noun
  • The problem with this, Profitmind said, is that these approaches don’t work efficiently at scale, especially across large, frequently changing assortments wherein retailers describe and classify comparable products differently.
    — Roy Stephen Canivel, Footwear News, 6 Nov. 2026
  • At Publix and Walmart, the big-bag assortments of mini chocolate bars run between 14 cents to 22 cents per piece, but that can still get pricey in a hurry for people who live in complexes with large populations of kids trolling for treats.
    — Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of assortments
Verb
  • Joe Burrow bungles Bengals’ passing game My theory of the case with Caleb Williams is that there was untapped running value here.
    — Michael Salfino, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Gentleman thief Sir Charles Lytton (David Niven) circles the prize while Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Peter Sellers) bungles the pursuit with sublime obliviousness.
    — Lilah Ramzi, Vogue, 25 Oct. 2025
Definition of bungles
Noun
  • Lowlights included uninspiring medleys.
    — Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 8 June 2026
  • For the elder millennials, the bittersweet spot was the medleys of older Kanye cuts released from 2004 to 2016 (think The College Dropout to The Life of Pablo).
    — Adelle Platon, VIBE.com, 2 Apr. 2026
Definition of medleys
Noun
  • Pollard has also been immersed in surrealism and dada, fitting genres for a musician and visual artist who has a knack for bending words and images to his will — either via hallucinatory lyrics or collages that mesh realms both physical and meta.
    — Brenna Ehrlich, Rolling Stone, 28 Oct. 2026
  • Better be watching the clouds again and again (2000/2017) is a series of collages attributed to a fictional Lebanese Army officer named Fadwa Hassoun, who’d trained as a botanist.
    — Emily Watlington, ARTnews.com, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of collages

Browse Nearby Words

botchers
botches
botching
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Botches.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/botches. Accessed 10 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of defer

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
woman sitting on floor holding book in front of her face on pink background
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All