mess over

verb

Definition of mess overnext
slang
as in to abuse
to inflict physical or emotional harm upon her no-good boyfriend has been messing her over for years

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for mess over
  1. abuse
  2. take apart
  3. bully
Verb
  • Meanwhile, local Church leaders hope the pope's visit will repair the Church's standing after a crushing 2021 report found that some 330,000 French children had been abused by Catholic clergy and lay leaders over seven decades.
    — Joshua McElwee, Arkansas Online, 26 Sep. 2026
  • An example of warrantless seizure could be a case in which an officer sees a dog being abused and takes the animal.
    — Dakota Smith, Los Angeles Times, 26 Sep. 2026
Definition of abuse
Verb
  • Across the street, other workers are clearing the rubble from the old Highmark Stadium as it is taken apart piece by piece.
    — Matthew Fairburn, New York Times, 11 June 2026
  • Among the arrays that are set to be taken apart is the Coastal Endurance Array, which lies off the coasts of Oregon and Washington State.
    — Adam Kovac, Scientific American, 2 June 2026
Definition of take apart
Verb
  • Grande had been the subject of a wave of speculation, concern and bullying regarding her physical appearance following images of the actress-singer going viral in late July.
    — James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 30 Sep. 2026
  • But Gresko, who alleges that some of her older children had also experienced bullying at the school, says the school never contacted her.
    — Brian Brant, PEOPLE, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of bully
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

messmates
mess over
mess (up)
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Mess over.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mess%20over. Accessed 4 Oct. 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

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

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

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 2

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
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
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All