fouled up

verb

past tense of foul up
1
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
2
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
  1. fumbled
  2. stumbled
  3. blew
  4. slipped up
  5. screwed up
  6. tripped
  7. murdered
Verb
  • The rookie tight end caught seven passes for 105 yards and a touchdown in his first career start Sunday, even as the Lions beat the Jets, 31-24, after Geno Smith fumbled with seconds remaining.
    — Antwan Staley, New York Daily News, 28 Sep. 2026
  • The Ravens' defense came up big in the third quarter, forcing a Cowboys turnover when Ferguson fumbled a shovel pass from Prescott.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of fumbled
Verb
  • Colorado stumbled out of its Big 12 opener with a 23-13 loss to Baylor, dropping Coach Prime's Buffaloes to 2-2 and looking like (potentially) the worst team in the conference.
    — Amber Harding OutKick, FOXNews.com, 30 Sep. 2026
  • A couple of years later, Noah Kravitz of Oxford, unaware of Müyesser and Pokrovskiy’s solution, stumbled on Graham’s conjecture in an online archive of unsolved problems.
    — Shalma Wegsman, Quanta Magazine, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of stumbled
Verb
  • His opponent blew him out of the water, receiving 70% of the vote.
    — Olivia Olander, Chicago Tribune, 4 Oct. 2026
  • After controlling the first half, Ohio State blew the lead in the second, losing 24-23.
    — OutKick, FOXNews.com, 3 Oct. 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
  • 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
  • Since then, price has completely round-tripped the move, giving back the entire post-earnings gap and settling back into the mid-$250s.
    — Josh Brown,Sean Russo, CNBC, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Thomas Maulson alleged a deputy tripped him while handcuffed, causing injuries that required 13 stitches.
    — Frank Vaisvilas, jsonline.com, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of tripped
Verb
  • Petruzzi argued that knowing about an effort to remove a president was not the same as knowing he would be murdered.
    — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 28 Sep. 2026
  • In what demonstration 500 security and military forces get murdered?
    — CBS News, CBS News, 27 Sep. 2026
Definition of murdered

Browse Nearby Words

fouled
fouled up
fouling
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Cite this Entry

“Fouled up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fouled%20up. Accessed 5 Oct. 2026.

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