messed (up)

verb

past tense of mess (up)
1
as in fumbled
to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way messed up the drawing and had to start over

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in disrupted
to undo the proper order or arrangement of a nap had messed up her hair and she looked a sight

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in stumbled
to make a mistake if anyone messes up even once while we're recording, we have to start all over again

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4
as in licked
to strike repeatedly threatened that he would mess him up if he cheated at the game

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for messed (up)
  1. fumbled
  2. disrupted
  3. stumbled
  4. licked
  5. blew
  6. confused
  7. tripped
  8. pounded
Verb
  • Lake Brantley appeared to have picked up the first down on third down but the ball was fumbled backwards to put the Patriots in fourth and long.
    — Buddy Collings, The Orlando Sentinel, 14 Aug. 2026
  • After Carter Jensen flew out to deep center field, Caglianone tagged from second base and kept running toward home as outfielder Andy Pages fumbled the baseball out of his glove.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of fumbled
Verb
  • Costs had been on the decline since March 2025, following a massive outbreak of bird flu that disrupted the egg supply and sent retail prices soaring.
    — Claire Malon, Chicago Tribune, 14 Aug. 2026
  • The outage, now in its 11th day, has disrupted access to medical records, prescription histories, and scheduling systems.
    — Andrea Lucia, CBS News, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of disrupted
Verb
  • Athletic Club stumbled through most of last season, in part due to star forward Nico Williams never reaching 100 per cent fitness.
    — Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Andropov died in 1984, and Gorbachev took more than a year to gain power while the Kremlin stumbled along under the caretaker regime of the grievously ill Konstantin Chernenko.
    — Tom Nichols, The Atlantic, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of stumbled
Verb
  • Tuxedo kitten Paolina bounced onto my chest and licked my fingers.
    — Solvej Schou, Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2026
  • Her entire face got licked clean off her head when suburban floodwaters breached the cardboard hull protecting Kath’s basement memorabilia stack a few months before I was born.
    — Claire Carusillo, Harpers Magazine, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of licked
Verb
  • For more than a decade after, human-AI teams ruled the sport until AI alone blew past those hybrids by 2017.
    — Mary Whitfill Roeloffs, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2026
  • An American Airlines flight blew two tires upon landing at Chicago O'Hare International Airport on Monday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
    — Benjamin Stein, ABC News, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of blew
Verb
  • This reserve should not be confused with a permanent investment strategy.
    — Steve Booren, Denver Post, 16 Aug. 2026
  • River otters are not to be confused with sea otters, which live in the ocean, bays and harbors and can grow to be up to five feet and 100 pounds.
    — Fedor Zarkhin, Los Angeles Times, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of confused
Verb
  • An alarm was tripped at a parking lot about 13 miles away in Wayland early Wednesday.
    — David K. Li, NBC news, 13 Aug. 2026
  • Pastor Richard Langness said the volunteer tripped, causing the torch to roll under a bush.
    — Sarah Horbacewicz, CBS News, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of tripped
Verb
  • Bluefin tuna crudo is gently pounded and spread with a Peruvian-leaning tomato tear, lemon threads and olive oil.
    — David Hochman, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2026
  • Russia has relentlessly pounded civilian areas of Ukraine, even though Moscow insists its forces target only military facilities.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 8 Aug. 2026
Definition of pounded
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

messed over
messed (up)
messed (with)
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Cite this Entry

“Messed (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/messed%20%28up%29. Accessed 21 Aug. 2026.

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Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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