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
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Recent Examples of fouled up
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
Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant, 15 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fouled up
Verb
-
And the counseling office fumbled it.—
Sharyn Alfonsi,
CBS News,
2 Mar. 2026
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Cornell fumbled with Mercader’s clothing, trying to find them.—
Josh Ireland,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The drunk boys urinated on the property, threw up in the backyard and stumbled and fell on the patio, the documents state.—
Andrew J. Campa,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Mar. 2026
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The girls were found Monday evening by a dog walker who stumbled across the first body in the vicinity of East 162nd Street and Midland Avenue, near an all-boys public school called the Ginn Academy School, and called the police.—
Corky Siemaszko,
NBC news,
4 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The Big East acknowledged after the game the officials blew the calls.—
Senior Editor,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Mar. 2026
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Anything before not worth thinking about since this was the performance that stuck with me, the one that blew me away and turned me into a jazz fiend.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
9 Mar. 2026
Verb
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There’s Championship action on Monday, when Middlesbrough travel to Sheffield United knowing a win will lift them to the top of the table, after Coventry City slipped up again on Saturday.—
Stuart James,
New York Times,
9 Feb. 2026
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And while Conrad was the one who slipped up at the peach orchard in Episode 5, Belly’s the one to blame in Seadon 3, Episode 6.—
Monica Mercuri,
Forbes.com,
13 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
That might be kind of screwed up.—
Patrick Saunders,
Denver Post,
21 Feb. 2026
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That seems like our priorities are screwed up.—
Terry Gross,
NPR,
19 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Jokic confronted Dort after getting tripped in the backcourt, leading to a heated shoving match.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
28 Feb. 2026
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Early last year, Brown’s wife—the former Cleveland Plain Dealer columnist Connie Schultz—tripped over a clothes basket and broke her shoulder.—
Mark Leibovich,
The Atlantic,
25 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Davis believes her ex-husband was murdered, although a coroner ruled his death an overdose, the attorney said.—
Jessica Seaman,
Denver Post,
9 Mar. 2026
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Murder is only a federal crime under certain circumstances, including when a person is murdered to prevent them or someone else from sharing information with federal authorities.—
Rick Sobey,
Boston Herald,
9 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fouled up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fouled%20up. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
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