as in shambles
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cock-up
Noun
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Of course this was a calculated power play, not a bureaucratic botch.—
U T Editorial Board,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 Mar. 2026 -
During last week's WWE SmackDown, a series of mistakes and botches drew harsh criticism from fans.—
Matthew Couden,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Becerra blunder The first ad that grabbed my attention was a quick-turn by San José Mayor and gubernatorial candidate Matt Mahan (still stuck in single-digit polling numbers), who jumped on Xavier Becerra’s first major mess-up.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
14 May 2026
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That way, the bristles can cling to your skincare products instead of dripping into the brush’s base and making a mess.—
Katie Decker-Jacoby,
StyleCaster,
14 May 2026
Noun
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The fiasco left aspiring translators in Korea, most of them people of color, with one less route into the profession, further enabling white people’s social and actual capital to be kept within their possession.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 May 2026
-
The fiasco played out for days and led to in-depth reviews at both the BBC and BAFTA.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
8 May 2026
Noun
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Nonpartisan voter guides from outlets such as CalMatters and KPBS depict the race as offering sharp policy contrasts rather than an indistinct muddle.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
17 May 2026
-
On top of everything else, the film is a muddle of languages — French, German and English — depending on who speaks to whom.—
Stephanie Bunbury,
Deadline,
15 May 2026
Noun
-
Boeing has reached confidential pre-trial settlements in most of the dozens of wrongful death lawsuits filed in connection with the Ethiopian Airlines disaster and a similar 737 Max crash five months earlier off the coast of Indonesia that together killed 346 people.—
Rio Yamat,
Fortune,
15 May 2026
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But the 48-year-old former San Francisco County supervisor’s solution — a single-payer-style public disaster insurance program — is poorly defined and presents an enormous risk for a state struggling with chronic deficits.—
Mercury News & East Bay Times Editorial Boards,
Mercury News,
15 May 2026
Noun
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For much the same reason, developers, architects and builders are starting to stress proactively designing for climate catastrophe.—
Jeffrey Steele,
Forbes.com,
18 May 2026
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Local elections in England are usually low-stakes affairs, but this year’s results proved to be a catastrophe for the Labour Party.—
Ava Kofman,
New Yorker,
14 May 2026
Noun
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So this summer — about a year after that legal debacle — Miami voters will get the chance to decide.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
14 May 2026
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Eisenhower, for example, worries about the safety of his troops in Normandy after Operation Tiger, a rehearsal for D-Day that turned into a tragic debacle that cost men’s lives.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
13 May 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Cock-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cock-up. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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