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

Replay review confirmed that Bachmeier had indeed fumbled, and separately confirmed that Moa had scored.

— Ian Miller OutKick, FOXNews.com, 2 Nov. 2026
Earlier, Jones fumbled after backup tailback Evan Pryor failed to pick up Georgia linebacker Quintavius Johnson, who knocked the ball out of Jones’ hand.

— Edgar Thompson, The Orlando Sentinel, 2 Nov. 2026

Definition of fumbled

Verb

Despite massive searches, his whereabouts remained a mystery until June of that year when a group of local hikers stumbled upon a boot, some bones and a driver’s license with a familiar face.

— Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times, 10 Nov. 2026
Gunn and Safran started off with the successful launch of a new Superman movie last year but then stumbled big with Supergirl, a critical and commercial bomb.

— Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 9 Nov. 2026

Definition of stumbled

Verb

Then, however, the whistle blew and officials said that the previous incomplete pass intended for Tremble was under review.

— Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 9 Nov. 2026
The long school holiday was coming to an end, and though the sunlight still offered the brightness of summer, the breeze that blew suggested the sombre quality of autumn.

— Yasushi Inoue, New Yorker, 8 Nov. 2026

Definition of blew

Verb

Miami did a relatively fine job in Weeks 2 and 3 against some of the most talented backs in Christian McCaffrey of the 49ers and Kenneth Walker of the Chiefs but slipped up the two games prior to the bye against the Vikings and Bengals.

— David Furones, Sun Sentinel, 22 Oct. 2026
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

Definition of slipped up

Verb

That doesn’t mean the Yankees screwed up in their process by trading for Stanton.

— Chris Kirschner, New York Times, 23 Aug. 2026
Every time a player screwed up, the coaching staff and his teammates received a text message, calling out both the infraction and the guilty party.

— Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 14 Aug. 2026

Definition of screwed up

Verb

On this day in 1922, according to the popular account, a boy tripped on a stone and kicked off one of the greatest archaeological finds in history.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Nov. 2026
Schaefer stayed on the ice for the first half of the extra period before Nashville's Filip Forsberg tripped him, forcing the period's first stoppage.

— Matt Reigle OutKick, FOXNews.com, 28 Oct. 2026

Definition of tripped

Verb

Detectives from the start suspected Panetti had been murdered.

— Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 2 Nov. 2026
It was consecrated by James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, young Black and Jewish men murdered together in 1964 for their work to register Black voters.

— Seth Limmer, Chicago Tribune, 1 Nov. 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 15 Nov. 2026.

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Synonyms of fouled up

verb

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