FOULED UP Synonyms: 82 Similar and Opposite Words

fouled up

verb

past tense of foul up

as in fumbled

to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way tried not to foul up the football play

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in stumbled

to make a mistake unfortunately, I fouled up and in my e-mail gave everyone the wrong date for the meeting

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 fouled up But their strategy was fouled up when the car’s occupants switched on the headlights, throwing a glare up the tote road along which the wardens had planned to sprint. — Dave Duffey, Outdoor Life, 26 Mar. 2026 Wild turkeys gobbled up Staten Island straphangers’ time on Monday, after a flock fouled up service on the Staten Island Railway. — Evan Simko-Bednarski, New York Daily News, 17 Mar. 2026 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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for fouled up

Verb

After Duran took third on a fly ball, pinch-hitter Joc Pederson hit a ground ball up the middle that was fumbled by Taylor Walls, allowing Duran to score.

— ABC News, ABC News, 30 July 2026
Chad Powers season 2 sees the actor reprise his role as Russ Holliday, a former star college quarterback who fumbled his promising career after a humiliating championship-game meltdown.

— Shelby Stivale, Entertainment Weekly, 29 July 2026

Definition of fumbled

Verb

Fresh from lifting the FIFA Club World Cup and buoyed by optimism around Enzo Maresca’s project, the Blues stumbled to a disappointing 10th-place Premier League finish.

— Graham Ruthven, New York Times, 31 July 2026
The Curiosity rover stumbled on the polygon field while ascending the foothills of a three-mile-high mountain called Mount Sharp, where it’s been roaming since 2014.

— Frank Landymore, Futurism, 30 July 2026

Definition of stumbled

Verb

Moss paused to watch, as an oak catkin blew down and nestled in his hair.

— Nick Paumgarten, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026
On a recent summer day, loud air conditioners blew cool air as nurses drew blood and tended wounds, calling to mind the makeshift spaces used during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

— Connor Sheets, Los Angeles Times, 3 Aug. 2026

Definition of blew

Verb

The Iberians slipped up big time in their first match of the tournament, being shocked by Switzerland 1-0, bringing back ghosts of tournament failures past for Spanish fans.

— Patrick Sung Cuadrado, CNN Money, 14 July 2026
Had Pep Guardiola’s side slipped up at a subdued Etihad, then Arsenal and Mikel Arteta could have won the title with victory over Burnley on Monday.

— Sam Lee, New York Times, 13 May 2026

Definition of slipped up

Verb

Brooks, who is recovering from back-to-back ACL injuries, took a kick return rep midway through practice and seemingly tripped with his momentum taking him head-first into rookie linebacker Jackson Kuwatch’s ankles.

— Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 29 July 2026
The footage alone cannot tell us whether the robot tripped or lost balance.

— Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 29 July 2026

Definition of tripped

Verb

Jones was only three doors from his house, visiting his neighbor, 46-year-old Jwon Martin, when Jones and Martin were murdered.

— Jermont Terry, CBS News, 6 Aug. 2026
Jackson initially cast Ryan Gosling as the father of Susie Salmon, the protagonist who’s murdered by a serial killer early in the story and narrates the fallout from heaven.

— Britt Hayes, Entertainment Weekly, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of murdered

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fouled

fouled up

fouling

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“Fouled up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fouled%20up. Accessed 6 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of fouled up

verb

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