1
as in fumbling
to make a mistake
everything is riding on this project, so we can't afford to louse up
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in screwing up
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lousing up
Verb
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Jones threw three interceptions while fumbling the ball three times - losing two - as Indianapolis picked up its second loss of the season.—
Andrew McCarty,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Nov. 2025 -
In Week 2, McCarthy played poorly, throwing two interceptions and fumbling three times.—
Ben Morse,
CNN Money,
29 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Best of all though is Reeves, channeling his own 1989 comic past from Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure or a bit of Todd Higgins from Parenthood to bring deadpan delight as the well-meaning but constantly screwing up angel trying to do good but being so bad at it.—
Pete Hammond,
Deadline,
7 Sep. 2025
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As Nick in the present-adjacent day sure knows a hell of a lot about Dante Alighieri, perhaps the best person to criticize him and recognize his gaps in logic and knowledge, and how Nick is so profoundly screwing up his own life, would be Dante himself.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
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After stumbling into a massive camp full of refugees from Nilfgaard’s ongoing campaign, Geralt winds up witness to a witch trial.—
Scott Meslow,
Vulture,
30 Oct. 2025
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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CWD can take months to years for symptoms to appear, which could include drastic weight loss, stumbling or lack of coordination, drooling and listlessness.—
Caroline Neal,
Louisville Courier Journal,
30 Oct. 2025
Verb
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That team pulled off this same trick, blowing the doors off all comers until slipping past USC.—
Pete Sampson,
New York Times,
2 Nov. 2025
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The space was stifling in the Louisiana heat, so fans were blowing for everyone inside.—
Luke Chinman,
PEOPLE,
31 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The main components have measurement indicators so there’s no chance of slipping up, and the parts can all nest inside the large container for easy storage when you’re done drinking your coffee.—
Mark Marino,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
29 Aug. 2025
Verb
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What's mucking up the process is a telepathic outlier named The Mule (Pilou Asbæk), whose ravenous appetite for galactic dominance has created anomalies in Seldon's branching prognostications of how this whole ordeal will unfold.—
Jeff Spry,
Space.com,
29 Aug. 2025
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The hydrogen flow keeps vaporized tin from mucking up the system’s optics.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
12 June 2023
Verb
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In between all of that, a botched tripping call early in the second quarter took a huge pass play off the board for Miami, which would have gotten the Dolphins inside Baltimore’s 10-yard line.—
The Athletic NFL Staff,
New York Times,
31 Oct. 2025
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McDaniel was blunt about his view of the tripping call against Ollie Gordon that negated a long completion to Jaylen Waddle.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
31 Oct. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Lousing up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lousing%20up. Accessed 8 Nov. 2025.
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