messes (up)

verb

present tense third-person singular of mess (up)
1
as in fumbles
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 disrupts
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 stumbles
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 licks
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 messes (up)
  1. fumbles
  2. disrupts
  3. stumbles
  4. licks
  5. blows
  6. confuses
  7. trips
  8. pounds
Verb
  • Sims catches a hitch and turns up field but fumbles the ball while switching hands.
    — Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 3 Aug. 2026
  • Tensions between the galley and the interior continue to escalate over lunch service, when a radio mishap fumbles the order in which the food should go out.
    — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 26 May 2026
Definition of fumbles
Verb
  • The capability could prove useful during missions where electronic warfare disrupts conventional navigation systems.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Sleep and health researchers say moving clocks twice a year disrupts the body's circadian rhythm, which regulates sleep and other biological functions.
    — Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of disrupts
Verb
  • Drunken dragonrider Ulf the White's rage proves pivotal Debaucherous dragonrider Ulf White (Tom Bennett) stumbles into playing a major role in the final battle with his dragon Silverwing.
    — Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 10 Aug. 2026
  • Bartels and Howe pitched the movie as a love letter focusing on a single summer about a kid who stumbles into a restaurant and finds his calling.
    — Aaron Couch, HollywoodReporter, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of stumbles
Verb
  • Food stands also debuted that year, with ribs sizzling along with the blues licks.
    — Adam Harrington, CBS News, 9 June 2026
  • At one point in a dinner scene, Shields' Erika licks Joey's fingers.
    — Raechal Shewfelt, Entertainment Weekly, 6 June 2026
Definition of licks
Verb
  • But Mistral, which takes its name from a strong wind that blows from southern France, certainly has the wind at its back.
    — Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 5 Aug. 2026
  • Grucci fireworks are stored in cement-block structures in rural Virginia—well spaced, in case one blows.
    — Paige Williams, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of blows
Verb
  • Any adversary who confuses media noise with American weakness will discover the truth the hard way.
    — Michael Loria, USA Today, 7 Aug. 2026
  • These opportunists drown out the core mission, creating a cacophony of competing voices that confuses donors, crowd the inboxes of CEOs and members of Congress with colliding petitions, and paralyzes meaningful action by draining critical funding and attention away from the truly effective groups.
    — Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Time, 28 June 2026
Definition of confuses
Verb
  • An agent holding valid credentials, performing thousands of plausible-looking actions across four days, trips neither alarm.
    — Jon Markman, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026
  • Bathroom trips while filming The Odyssey were an odyssey in itself for John Leguizamo.
    — Marina Watts, Entertainment Weekly, 22 July 2026
Definition of trips
Verb
  • The first murder is a girl slicing into her slumbering mother’s neck with a hacksaw; then her brother pounds his father’s face in with a baseball bat.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Back from a hamstring injury, Teoscar Hernández rejoins a relentless Dodgers offense that pounds 17 hits and three homers in a 9-4 win over the Athletics.
    — Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times, 30 June 2026
Definition of pounds
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

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

“Messes (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/messes%20%28up%29. Accessed 15 Aug. 2026.

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