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
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
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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Dallas stumbled, fumbled and grumbled its way to a 122-92 loss, which was somehow not its most lopsided game of the season.—
Mike Curtis,
Dallas Morning News,
9 Mar. 2026
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And the counseling office fumbled it.—
Sharyn Alfonsi,
CBS News,
2 Mar. 2026
Verb
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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
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That might be kind of screwed up.—
Patrick Saunders,
Denver Post,
21 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The advisory comes a day after high wind gusts blew through the region.—
Stacey DuFord,
CBS News,
15 Mar. 2026
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Tatum later blew past Alex Sarr for another layup and converted a transition dunk.—
Jay King,
New York Times,
15 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Why the mistake should have ruined your day, Miss Manners cannot guess.—
Judith Martin,
Dallas Morning News,
10 Mar. 2026
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Greg Gutfeld is better than all of them combined, including the Moron on NBC who ruined the once great Tonight Show.—
Raechal Shewfelt,
Entertainment Weekly,
10 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Karaban almost had a costly turnover on an inbound play with 14 seconds left, but the Huskies fouled up three and Mulready split his free throw attempts, setting up the game-clinching freebies from the Huskies’ captain.—
Joe Arruda,
Hartford Courant,
15 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Davis believes her ex-husband was murdered, although a coroner ruled his death an overdose, the attorney said.—
Jessica Seaman,
Denver Post,
9 Mar. 2026
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Murder is only a federal crime under certain circumstances, including when a person is murdered to prevent them or someone else from sharing information with federal authorities.—
Rick Sobey,
Boston Herald,
9 Mar. 2026
Verb
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What state officials have dubbed the Morrill County fire has burned at least 708 square miles (about 1,834 square kilometers) across four counties since Thursday.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
14 Mar. 2026
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What state officials have dubbed the Morrill County fire has burned at least 735 square miles across four counties since Thursday.—
Mark Scolforo,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Mucked up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mucked%20up. Accessed 16 Mar. 2026.
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