1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

goofed (up)

verb

past tense of goof (up)
1
as in fumbled
to make a mistake we must have goofed up somewhere, because this cake clearly didn't turn out right

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in buggered (up)
to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way he goofed up his first sale at the dealership

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for goofed (up)
  1. fumbled
  2. blew
  3. stumbled
  4. screwed up
  5. tripped
  6. dubbed
  7. slipped up
Verb
  • Treadwell fumbled and L’Jarius Sneed recovered the ball for what initially was ruled a game-winning recovery.
    — Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 21 Sep. 2026
  • The Northwestern defense came up with another fourth-down stop to open the third quarter, but the Wildcats gave the ball back when Caleb Komolafe fumbled at the Colorado 34.
    — Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune, 20 Sep. 2026
Definition of fumbled
Verb
  • Georgia State wasn’t done, as running back Qwantavius Wiggins blew past the UCF defense, racing 78 yards for a touchdown and giving the Panthers their first lead of the game at 21-17.
    — Matt Murschel, The Orlando Sentinel, 20 Sep. 2026
  • Smith, the shortest player in the FBS at 5-foot-5, fielded the ball at the 2 near the left sideline, faked a reverse handoff near the 10 before changing direction and blew past Cincinnati’s kick coverage team up the right sideline.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of blew
Verb
  • Portage stumbled into its flock of Flocks after then-Sheriff Dave Reynolds contracted with the company to put them in the city.
    — Doug Ross, Chicago Tribune, 15 Sep. 2026
  • For all of the anticipation of an explosive new offensive attack sparked by the arrival of new coordinator Mike McDaniel, the Chargers stumbled and fumbled their way through their season debut.
    — Doug Haller, New York Times, 13 Sep. 2026
Definition of stumbled
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
  • An older man to my right tripped and took a face-first dive across the pavement, glasses flying off his face.
    — Timothy Townsend, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Mizzou tripped Kansas 42-31 last season in Columbia, went 4-1 against the Jayhawks uninterrupted from 2007-11 at Arrowhead Stadium and also conquered KU 42-17 in 2006 at Memorial Stadium in Columbia.
    — Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of tripped
Verb
  • This class of insects was dubbed lepidoptera, meaning scale wings, by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1746.
    — Heller McAlpin, Christian Science Monitor, 19 Sep. 2026
  • Congress this week attempted to rush the measure, dubbed the Ratepayer Protection Act, in the waning days before November’s election, as data centers have become an increasingly contentious issue.
    — Justin Papp, CNBC, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of dubbed
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
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

goofed on
goofed (up)
go off
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Goofed (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/goofed%20%28up%29. Accessed 23 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Why do we say 'fly off the handle'?
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
crayons-in-a-circle
Guess the Color Quiz Questions that use the whole box of crayons.
See All