as in chaotic
lacking in order, neatness, and often cleanliness
having a messy room is virtually de rigueur for a college student
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Recent Examples of messy
Meanwhile, the bride, who typically lets her medium brown mane fly free, pulled her back into a messy ponytail on Thursday night.
—
Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 27 June 2025
And don’t forget to make your cleanup a breeze with this Eufy robot vacuum that’s $230 off for Prime members — the self-emptying machine uses smart technology to detect messy areas and does the cleaning for you.
—Nicol Natale, People.com, 27 June 2025
This is ultimately about making sense of messy, real-world data.
—Steve Taplin, Forbes.com, 27 June 2025
Take it from me, a writer who tests sneakers for a living: The best shoe racks, shelves, and other storage options instantly add order to a chaotic closet or messy mudroom.
—Sara Coughlin, SELF, 26 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for messy
Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 27 June 2025
And don’t forget to make your cleanup a breeze with this Eufy robot vacuum that’s $230 off for Prime members — the self-emptying machine uses smart technology to detect messy areas and does the cleaning for you.
—Nicol Natale, People.com, 27 June 2025
This is ultimately about making sense of messy, real-world data.
—Steve Taplin, Forbes.com, 27 June 2025
Take it from me, a writer who tests sneakers for a living: The best shoe racks, shelves, and other storage options instantly add order to a chaotic closet or messy mudroom.
—Sara Coughlin, SELF, 26 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for messy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for messy
Adjective
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He was reinstated after a chaotic week that included a mass employee revolt and a brief stint at Microsoft.—
Beatrice Nolan,
Fortune,
20 June 2025
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The chaotic scenes unfolded when agents deployed rubber bullets, tear gas and flash bangs to disperse the crowd who had swarmed the compound, according to video captured by Turning Point USA’s Frontlines.—
Michael Dorgan,
FOXNews.com,
19 June 2025
Adjective
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Crystal Skull is easily Spielberg’s laziest, sloppiest work — even the action sequences seem phoned-in — and it’s filled with unforgivable howlers: Shia LaBeouf’s limp attempt at being a bad boy, Cate Blanchett’s hammy villain, the goddamn fridge scene.—
Tim Grierson,
Vulture,
20 June 2025
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The Cardinals took full advantage of the sloppy inning, scoring five runs on the way to clobbering the Sox 12-2 in front of 16,974 at Rate Field.—
LaMond Pope,
Chicago Tribune,
18 June 2025
Adjective
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Despite decades of existence, Jack in the Box’s sales remain stagnant, its strategy appears confused, and investors are becoming increasingly uneasy.—
Jim Osman,
Forbes.com,
19 June 2025
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Charles Leclerc, meanwhile, was left confused by the team’s strategy call — having gone long on the opening stint, but never seemed like a genuine threat to the leaders and lacking the outright pace of Lando Norris on the same strategy.—
Luke Smith,
New York Times,
18 June 2025
Adjective
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Troubled Factories: The medications came mostly from plants in India where inspectors found contaminated drugs, filthy labs and falsified records.—
Debbie Cenziper,
ProPublica,
17 June 2025
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The next year, his fame reached a new echelon after the release of Pumping Iron, a docudrama that highlighted Schwarzenegger's strange charisma and filthy sense of humor.—
Randall Colburn,
EW.com,
12 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Messy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/messy. Accessed 2 Jul. 2025.
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