1
as in fumbled
to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way
messed up the drawing and had to start over
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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)
Verb
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Onana then fumbled a low cross from the right by Yasin Ayari, with the ball falling to the feet of Georginio Rutter.—
Laurie Whitwell,
New York Times,
23 Oct. 2025 -
Last season, Daniels fumbled the ball twice in the last five minutes.—
Shreyas Laddha,
Kansas City Star,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Big Deal Amazon Web Services (AWS) experienced a major outage on October 20 that disrupted the websites of several major businesses, including Snapchat, Hulu, crypto exchange Coinbase, and the online brokerage Robinhood.—
Sheryl Estrada,
Fortune,
21 Oct. 2025
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Kathryn Palmer The shutdown unfortunately disrupted my weekend plans to check out the FDR Presidential Library in upstate New York, but the gorgeous fall weather in the area was a welcome consolation.—
Kathryn Palmer,
USA Today,
20 Oct. 2025
Verb
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But even on a night where Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards scored 31, no one was better than Dončić, who only stumbled when the Lakers tried to get him to 50 points.—
Dan Woike,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
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Abdi stumbled, and only kept himself upright by leaning with both hands on his cane.—
David Wingrave,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Some even licked the candy to soften it -- a trick used by contestants in the show.—
Hakyung Kate Lee,
ABC News,
17 Oct. 2025
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Napkins were crumpled; plates were licked.—
Helen Shaw,
New Yorker,
17 Oct. 2025
Verb
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One of the higher-ups felt my title Stairway to Heaven would be confused with the 1939 movie of the same name.—
Cameron Crowe,
HollywoodReporter,
24 Oct. 2025
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Netflix’s co-CEOs then confused Wall Street by not slamming the door on a possible bid.—
Ted Johnson,
Deadline,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The swing-first Toronto hitters have pounded the strike-first Seattle pitchers.—
Tyler Kepner,
New York Times,
17 Oct. 2025
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Heavy rain pounded an area from the Carolinas to Massachusetts on Sunday afternoon, bringing reports of coastal flooding and hundreds of flight delays.—
Mirna Alsharif,
NBC news,
13 Oct. 2025
Verb
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On Canal Street on Thursday morning, lost tourists tripped over commuters hustling out of the subway, the grates on the souvenir stores went up, but most of the street vendors were still missing.—
Matthew Sedacca,
Curbed,
23 Oct. 2025
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Prodded by a fan question about bloopers while reading a story on air, asked by Bravo host Andy Cohen, Daly recalled how working with a teleprompter and a big name like Leonardo DiCaprio tripped him up.—
Mekishana Pierre,
Entertainment Weekly,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Trump has also lashed out at China over its restrictions on rare earth exports and his administration is launching a probe looking into whether China complied with a trade agreement from 2019.—
Bryan Mena,
CNN Money,
25 Oct. 2025
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Gakpo should have equalised with an 87th-minute header that went well wide, 23 minutes after Salah lashed at a close-range shot and missed the goal by some distance.—
Anantaajith Raghuraman,
New York Times,
23 Oct. 2025
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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 28 Oct. 2025.
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