fouls up

verb

present tense third-person singular of foul up
1
as in fumbles
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 trips
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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for fouls up
  1. fumbles
  2. trips
  3. blows
  4. stumbles
  5. murders
  6. slips up
Verb
  • Tensions between the galley and the interior continue to escalate over lunch service, when a radio mishap fumbles the order in which the food should go out.
    — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 26 May 2026
  • The movie fumbles the chance to do something arresting with this seminal period in art.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 12 May 2026
Definition of fumbles
Verb
  • Bathroom trips while filming The Odyssey were an odyssey in itself for John Leguizamo.
    — Marina Watts, Entertainment Weekly, 22 July 2026
  • The youngest Lestat trips over reciting a passage about being encircled by God’s love.
    — Sabrina Reed, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026
Definition of trips
Verb
  • Grucci fireworks are stored in cement-block structures in rural Virginia—well spaced, in case one blows.
    — Paige Williams, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026
  • Peter trying to have a normal holiday while grieving Tony, Mysterio’s deception, and the post-credits scene that blows Peter’s life apart — all of it feeds into where the new film finds him.
    — Hannah Abraham, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of blows
Verb
  • So much of what the product promises depends on OpenAI's software side, but the execution stumbles by scattering controls across multiple places.
    — Brian Westover, PC Magazine, 3 Aug. 2026
  • When rule-follower Ellie stumbles upon tomboy Ashley trapped in a Hot Topic at the mall, she becomes swept up into her world.
    — Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 29 July 2026
Definition of stumbles
Verb
  • Moriarty has reported on the yogurt shop murders for over 30 years.
    — Erin Moriarty, CBS News, 26 June 2026
  • Not the family stuff, like Natalie’s spontaneous nipple piercing after making out with Cady’s maybe-daughter, Nevaeh (Malia Pyles), who later murders her own mother after kissing her, for way too long, on the mouth.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 26 June 2026
Definition of murders
Verb
  • At Baku, however, the car looks to be a podium contender, potentially fighting for the win if McLaren slips up.
    — Nelson Espinal, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Sep. 2025
  • Along the way Texas needs to hope Seattle slips up, or else that final weekend in Cleveland could wind up being meaningless.
    — Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 14 Sep. 2025
Definition of slips up
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.

Browse Nearby Words

fouls
fouls up
foul-up
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Cite this Entry

“Fouls up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fouls%20up. Accessed 5 Aug. 2026.

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