as in fumbled
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 mucked up
Even in the harshest descriptions of the violence and almost unbelievably cruel twists of fate that Yarris endured (the DNA testing keeps getting accidentally mucked up), Brody lends him a vital indomitable spark.
—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
16 Apr. 2026
Toronto is a good defensive team but doesn’t shoot the 3-ball well and has a half-court offense that can get mucked up and relies heavily on midrange jumpers.
—
James L. Edwards Iii,
New York Times,
9 Mar. 2026
Well, the first and third mucked up their stories with some overly contrived lore about cults and gods, and the fourth was an experiment for the formula that didn’t quite work.
—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
23 Jan. 2026
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
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
16 Apr. 2026
Toronto is a good defensive team but doesn’t shoot the 3-ball well and has a half-court offense that can get mucked up and relies heavily on midrange jumpers.
—
James L. Edwards Iii,
New York Times,
9 Mar. 2026
Well, the first and third mucked up their stories with some overly contrived lore about cults and gods, and the fourth was an experiment for the formula that didn’t quite work.
—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
23 Jan. 2026
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mucked up
Verb
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But in her concentration, Porsha fumbled her words, which made the Faithfuls, who were desperate for a crumb of evidence so early in the game, suspicious of her sincerity.
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Before that, Tampa Bay fumbled scoring opportunities in five of the first seven innings and stranded five overall.
Verb
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But four years ago, Sorsby screwed up in a massive way.
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The two screwed up a top-rope stunner as Excalibur struggled to explain what happened like a 2026 Jim Ross.
Verb
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Coach Matt LaFleur faces immense pressure after the team blew a 21-3 playoff lead and finished with five straight losses.
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But what really blew me away was the sheer scale of the panoramas.
Verb
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Its front-facing design deters pickpockets, while the water-resistant fabric protects your phone from surprise downpours or sweaty adventure days—because no one wants their phone ruined halfway through a trip.
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In practice, organic liquids like crude oil ruined everything.
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.
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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.
Verb
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Thirty years after she was murdered, Aimee Willard is still honoring her legacy with a garden of sunflowers in Delaware County.
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Later on, Jaehaerys II is murdered in the episode’s climax.
Verb
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The app will include coding, chat, and a new agentic workflow capability dubbed Autopilot, Fortune reported in May.
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The 988 hotline, which has been dubbed the 911 for mental health emergencies, is credited with reducing teen and young adult suicide deaths.
Cite this Entry
“Mucked up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mucked%20up. Accessed 30 Jun. 2026.
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