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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Trailing to Jule Brand's 19th-minute goal for record eight-time champion Lyon, Arsenal was gifted an equalizer in the 59th when Mariona Caldentey's low free kick into the area was fumbled backward by goalkeeper Christiane Endler and onto the post.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
26 Apr. 2026
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Critics say the Epstein files show how Republican and Democratic administrations alike fumbled the Epstein investigation over two decades, leaving potential coconspirators uncharged.—
Curt Devine,
CNN Money,
22 Apr. 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
-
That might be kind of screwed up.—
Patrick Saunders,
Denver Post,
21 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Brunson had 27 points by halftime, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer that blew the score to 74-51 and gave him the second-most first-half points in Knicks playoff history.—
C.J. Holmes,
New York Daily News,
5 May 2026
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The Great Gatsby was the first book that kind of blew things open for me in terms of symbolism and deeper meaning and language.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 May 2026
Verb
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Also be aware that, according to FEMA, the physical original documents are often ruined by flooding, even in homes that survive damage from wind.—
Doyle Rice,
USA Today,
1 May 2026
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Back in the days before the shootout came long and ruined everything diminished the play’s novelty somewhat, a penalty shot would be big news.—
Sean McIndoe,
New York Times,
1 May 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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Last week, Chicago police Officer John Bartholomew was murdered in the line of duty by a seven-time felon on parole who had multiple criminal arrest warrants, according to authorities.—
Silvana Tabares,
Chicago Tribune,
4 May 2026
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The case of 19-year-old Kristin Smart, who was murdered in her California Polytechnic State University dorm room in 1996, went cold until 2019 when Christopher Lambert, then a Cal Poly student, started a podcast, Your Own Backyard.—
The Week US,
TheWeek,
4 May 2026
Verb
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The internal debate over resuming the war comes after Pentagon officials informed Congress this week that the conflict, dubbed Operation Epic Fury, had cost taxpayers $25 billion thus far.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
2 May 2026
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On social media, the whale had been dubbed Timmy, after the first sandbank that he was stranded on.—
Jessica Camille Aguirre,
New Yorker,
2 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Mucked up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mucked%20up. Accessed 7 May. 2026.
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