as in to fumble
to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way
I swear, she mucks up everything she tries
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Recent Examples of muck up
Lawmakers need to get back to Washington to end the government shutdown - a shutdown that has mucked up travel plans around the country by contributing to widespread flight delays.
—
Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 11 Nov. 2025
While the Governor's Cup may be safe, there are other ways the ACC's and SEC's scheduling moves could muck up Louisville's future football schedules.
—Payton Titus, Louisville Courier Journal, 25 Sep. 2025
What's mucking up the process is a telepathic outlier named The Mule (Pilou Asbæk), whose ravenous appetite for galactic dominance has created anomalies in Seldon's branching prognostications of how this whole ordeal will unfold.
—Jeff Spry, Space.com, 29 Aug. 2025
The hydrogen flow keeps vaporized tin from mucking up the system’s optics.
—IEEE Spectrum, 12 June 2023
See All Example Sentences for muck up
Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 11 Nov. 2025
While the Governor's Cup may be safe, there are other ways the ACC's and SEC's scheduling moves could muck up Louisville's future football schedules.
—Payton Titus, Louisville Courier Journal, 25 Sep. 2025
What's mucking up the process is a telepathic outlier named The Mule (Pilou Asbæk), whose ravenous appetite for galactic dominance has created anomalies in Seldon's branching prognostications of how this whole ordeal will unfold.
—Jeff Spry, Space.com, 29 Aug. 2025
The hydrogen flow keeps vaporized tin from mucking up the system’s optics.
—IEEE Spectrum, 12 June 2023
See All Example Sentences for muck up
Recent Examples of Synonyms for muck up
Verb
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As the years went by, judges complained that the city’s in-house lawyers had fumbled key casework.—
Joe Mahr,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Mar. 2026
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Nothing erodes confidence faster than fumbling for lockboxes, waiting on unresponsive listing agents, or showing a space that clearly doesn’t fit.—
Allen Buchanan,
Oc Register,
28 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Be careful when handling debris that may have blown into your yard.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
1 Apr. 2026
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Pitchers and batters are both worse than a coin-flip at issuing challenges – blown calls in a matter of seconds.—
Hannah Keyser,
CNN Money,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
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But what really screws up Julia are the deliveries.—
Pete Hammond,
Deadline,
17 Mar. 2026
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The Sens are going to lose their pick for nothing at all, because of how a GM their fans didn’t like screwed up a trade his team wasn’t even involved in.—
Sean McIndoe,
New York Times,
11 Mar. 2026
Verb
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But their strategy was fouled up when the car’s occupants switched on the headlights, throwing a glare up the tote road along which the wardens had planned to sprint.—
Dave Duffey,
Outdoor Life,
26 Mar. 2026
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Wild turkeys gobbled up Staten Island straphangers’ time on Monday, after a flock fouled up service on the Staten Island Railway.—
Evan Simko-Bednarski,
New York Daily News,
17 Mar. 2026
Verb
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However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.—
Don Sweeney,
Sacbee.com,
29 Mar. 2026
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Accused of ruining baseball with their big-spending ways the past two years, the noise has only gotten louder as a labor showdown looms.—
Bill Plunkett,
Oc Register,
29 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The Red Sox proved us right by punching their ticket for the first time since 2021, and then getting booted out by the Yankees in the first round.—
Gabrielle Starr,
Boston Herald,
22 Mar. 2026
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But Subrav Pokhrel showed up in the nick of time for the Owls to boot the ball clear and end the rush.—
Darren Lauber,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
21 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Muck up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/muck%20up. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.
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