as in fumbling
to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way
I've somehow buggered up the program again
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for buggering (up)
Verb
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Nothing erodes confidence faster than fumbling for lockboxes, waiting on unresponsive listing agents, or showing a space that clearly doesn’t fit.—
Allen Buchanan,
Oc Register,
28 Mar. 2026 -
Last season’s Detroit Tigers endured the worst divisional collapse in history, fumbling an AL Central lead that reached 15 1/2 games in July.—
Cody Stavenhagen,
New York Times,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Try to find a place that will block blowing or falling debris.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
31 Mar. 2026
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The Field of 68 pointed out that each of Duke's last four NCAA Tournament losses came by blowing a double-digit lead.—
Megan Armstrong,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
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First of all, don’t hide misdeeds and screwups, which comes naturally by not committing misdeeds and not screwing up.—
Eleanor Dearman,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
14 Feb. 2026
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Right now, Iranians are blaming, appropriately, the regime for screwing up the country.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
11 Jan. 2026
Verb
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At least not Will Welch, GQ’s longstanding editor-in-chief and global editorial director, who was absolutely zen about the threat of an atmospheric river mucking up the mag’s Men of the Year celebration last night.—
Chris Gardner,
HollywoodReporter,
14 Nov. 2025
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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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Cite this Entry
“Buggering (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/buggering%20%28up%29. Accessed 31 Mar. 2026.
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