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
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
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
-
And the counseling office fumbled it.—
Sharyn Alfonsi,
CBS News,
2 Mar. 2026
-
Cornell fumbled with Mercader’s clothing, trying to find them.—
Josh Ireland,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
That might be kind of screwed up.—
Patrick Saunders,
Denver Post,
21 Feb. 2026
-
That seems like our priorities are screwed up.—
Terry Gross,
NPR,
19 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
But a tree fell on his home of 20 years, and portions of the roof of a house across the street blew into his yard.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
8 Mar. 2026
-
The Canadiens blew a full power play in overtime and lost in a shootout.—
Arpon Basu,
New York Times,
8 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
What father would ever allow such devastation, assuring fellow patriarchs that their lives without sons would be ruined forever?—
David John Chávez,
Mercury News,
3 Mar. 2026
-
Burd and Batalucco have essentially ruined their home by placing cameras everywhere so Friends Keep Secrets can always be capturing whoever is wherever.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
3 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
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
-
They were met with savage brutality, with as many as 30,000 murdered by their own government.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
3 Mar. 2026
-
Grace, who suffered the trauma of seeing her mother murdered right in front of her as a teen, protects Emily and tries to help her escape, only for the little girl to morph into a T-Virus monster that Leon has to incapacitate.—
Jennifer Maas,
Variety,
2 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Fans are convinced Musgraves is teasing a new album, which her fanbase has dubbed KM6.—
Ryan Brennan,
Kansas City Star,
6 Mar. 2026
-
For now, new products like Beyond Ground and Beyond Immerse are only available online through a website the company has dubbed Beyond Test Kitchen.—
Dee-Ann Durbin,
Fortune,
6 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Mucked up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mucked%20up. Accessed 9 Mar. 2026.
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