messing (up)

verb

present participle of mess (up)
1
as in fumbling
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 disrupting
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 stumbling
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 licking
to strike repeatedly threatened that he would mess him up if he cheated at the game

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for messing (up)
  1. fumbling
  2. disrupting
  3. stumbling
  4. licking
  5. blowing
  6. confusing
  7. tripping
  8. pounding
Verb
  • The fight sequences have an engaging messiness, the characters often fumbling around rather than delivering expert moves.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Clinicians should be working to support us, not fumbling incompetently or making paternalistic determinations.
    — Meg LeDuc, STAT, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of fumbling
Verb
  • Over the past decade, cyberattacks against the education sector have risen expeditiously, exposing sensitive data, temporarily disrupting school operations and affecting students' learning.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Integration therefore becomes an important part of introducing upgrades without disrupting the wider mission setup.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of disrupting
Verb
  • One of my favorite projects involved walking across the largest city in the Lower 48, only with the general framework of a plan, stumbling upon all kinds of interesting people, places and history.
    — Mark Woods, Florida Times-Union, 20 Sep. 2026
  • Ian informs the sisters that Kylie isn’t merely stumbling into arcane rituals; someone is drawing her to the dark side.
    — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of stumbling
Verb
  • The team also pointed out that the same circuit is responsible for the expression of normal, context-appropriate grooming and licking.
    — Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 28 Sep. 2026
  • In the post, Wouter was pictured wearing a dog cone, which is used to prevent pets from licking, chewing or scratching surgical sites or wounds.
    — Summer Lin, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of licking
Verb
  • Winds blowing east to west along the equator push water in the Pacific Ocean west toward Asia, Jacox said.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 Oct. 2026
  • Andersen sees energy storage, which would allow for continual energy supply even when the wind isn’t blowing, as the wind sector’s next big opportunity.
    — Sam Birchall, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of blowing
Verb
  • Immigrant parents there wanted help writing to their kids’ teachers and making sense of confusing forms.
    — Steven Choi, New York Daily News, 4 Oct. 2026
  • Critics say the requirements have been confusing and difficult for many voters to meet, potentially leaving millions off the registration lists and unable to vote.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of confusing
Verb
  • Every Electric’s team responded by continually updating the battery firmware to reduce the risk of tripping local circuit breakers.
    — Jeremy Hsu, ArsTechnica, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Allen is also remembered for tripping opponents three times in a calendar year, all of them caught on tape.
    — Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of tripping
Verb
  • One man was already pounding another's head into a small hole that prisoners used as a toilet.
    — Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Breaking Benjamin As pounding as any heavy metal band, this Pennsylvania group hammers its way to surprisingly melodic choruses.
    — Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of pounding
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

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

“Messing (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/messing%20%28up%29. Accessed 6 Oct. 2026.

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Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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