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
  • After not fumbling all year and not committing a turnover throughout the month of October, Young got strip-sacked in the second quarter and Tampa Bay returned it for a touchdown.
    — Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 25 Oct. 2026
  • The Seahawks had one of the worst turnovers in the NFL this season, fumbling in their own end zone and handing the 49ers a touchdown with 13 seconds left in the first half.
    — Dan Zaksheske OutKick, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of fumbling
Verb
  • Habits are usually paired with physical or emotional cues, and disrupting those cues can disrupt the habit.
    — Allison Parshall, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Eight years ago, protesters frequently drove coverage in their preferred direction by disrupting candidates (Movimiento Cosecha pushed Biden to endorse a deportation moratorium, for instance) and showing up to press them at Q&As.
    — David Weigel, semafor.com, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of disrupting
Verb
  • Resendiz finished strongly, sending Mazoudier stumbling backward in the final minute.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Not everybody getting off the ride, stumbling to see their picture on the wall, agrees that the thrills were worth the chills.
    — Josh Brown,Sean Russo, CNBC, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of stumbling
Verb
  • Which is funny, because the cat-cow’s here in Crap Central with us, licking something off Carl’s boot.
    — George Saunders, New Yorker, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Teams have to be licking their chops after seeing what Tampa Bay did to Dallas last Thursday night, especially considering the defense (or lack thereof) that the Cowboys have shown through five weeks.
    — Jonathan Rubin, Charlotte Observer, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of licking
Verb
  • Officials had budgeted $100,000 for the program and wound up blowing through that in just a few hours.
    — Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2026
  • While animal rights advocates have pushed for Congress to adopt legislation that would phase out the fur industry, buying out farmers over the course of a year to end the practice once and for all, winds in Congress are blowing the other direction.
    — Nat Lash, ProPublica, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of blowing
Verb
  • The Justice Department has argued in its suit that the name overlap risks confusing voters.
    — Willem Marx, NPR, 25 Oct. 2026
  • Cyan could theoretically fill the visual gap without confusing road users.
    — Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of confusing
Verb
  • In overtime, the Golden Knights quickly took advantage of a tripping penalty on Kings center Scott Laughton.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 11 Oct. 2026
  • Behar, who dislocated the shoulder after catching her heel and tripping last week at The View‘s ABC studio building in New York, is expected to return to the show next week.
    — Greg Evans, Deadline, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of tripping
Verb
  • Groups of young people were seen dancing with music pounding through the crowd as meters away tear gas billowed into the air.
    — Joseph Ataman, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2026
  • At the moment, the good detective is strutting around the float, kicking the wheels and pounding the floorboards.
    — Danielle Parker, CBS News, 21 Oct. 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 26 Oct. 2026.

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