1
as in to stumble
to make a mistake
everything is riding on this project, so we can't afford to louse up
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in to fumble
to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way
I loused up the wallpapering job in the bedroom—the seams show too much
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of louse up
Which is to say that America’s most prominent vaccine skeptic could have the power to upend, derail, or otherwise louse up a cornerstone of public health.
—
Daniel Engber, The Atlantic, 20 Nov. 2024
Conversely, one of the easiest ways to louse up a team on draft day is to load up a team with players who aren’t going to produce at a level commensurate with when they were drafted.
—Gary Davenport, The Athletic, 5 Aug. 2024
Daniel Engber, The Atlantic, 20 Nov. 2024
Conversely, one of the easiest ways to louse up a team on draft day is to load up a team with players who aren’t going to produce at a level commensurate with when they were drafted.
—Gary Davenport, The Athletic, 5 Aug. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for louse up
Verb
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The same officer shoves Pretti in his chest, leading Pretti and the other protester to stumble backward.—
Hannah Fingerhut,
Twin Cities,
25 Jan. 2026
-
Dutcher and his staff might have stumbled on something.—
Mark Zeigler,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
24 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Beauty products have taken over my sink, leaving me fumbling for my go-to face washes and serums every morning and night.—
Jacqueline Tempera,
Better Homes & Gardens,
14 Jan. 2026
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The Steelers failed to capitalize on the miscues from a jittery Stroud, who fumbled twice and threw a pick deep in Pittsburgh territory.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Reviewers say that this model’s eco mode outputs just the right amount of heat without tripping your breaker.—
Julia Harrison,
Architectural Digest,
23 Jan. 2026
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The operators likely see green lights and stable voltage readings on their screens even as transformers are overloading and breakers are tripping in the physical world.—
Saman Zonouz,
The Conversation,
22 Jan. 2026
Verb
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But aerospace engineers at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) have discovered a material that blows those two out of the water with nearly thrice the thermal conductivity.—
Abhimanyu Ghoshal,
New Atlas,
27 Jan. 2026
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The shuttle just suddenly blew apart.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Their actions spoke louder than words, even if Shanahan did slip up in the preseason and compare this team to his 2017 squad that didn’t win a game until mid-November.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
18 Jan. 2026
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So, when Mario reconstructed the mess into a back-to-back bowl team, no one expected the athletic director to can him after a 3-9 slip up.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
17 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Tim overcame his fear of screwing up again and asked Lucy to move in.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
6 Jan. 2026
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Jessica and Ashlee Simpson, ‘The Little Drummer Boy’ There really aren’t many ways to screw up a straightforward ballad that needs only a rolling snare drum as required instrumentation, but leave it to the Simpson sisters circa 2004 to burn it all down.—
Melissa Ruggieri,
USA Today,
4 Dec. 2025
Verb
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And, from this week’s issue, Nicola Twilley’s reporting on another lingering effect of the wildfires—smoke taint that is ruining grapes and threatening California’s wine industry.—
Dana Goodyear,
New Yorker,
7 Jan. 2026
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This will either change your life or ruin you.—
Outside Online,
Outside Online,
7 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The funding lapse led to delayed or suspended economic data, wreaked havoc at airports as flights were canceled due to air traffic controller shortages and fouled up the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.—
Fred Imbert,
CNBC,
13 Nov. 2025
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Also, if Utah or Miami were to score an upset in the opening round, St. Louis would have first dibs at taking that team instead of Orlando, which would foul up these predictions completely.—
Todd Boss,
Forbes.com,
15 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Louse up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/louse%20up. Accessed 29 Jan. 2026.
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