as in fumbling
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 mucking up
Amid the memory shortage that's mucking up component prices globally, at least Qualcomm has some promising news for folks hoping to pay less for a daily driver.
—
Florence Ion,
PC Magazine,
7 May 2026
At least not Will Welch, GQ’s longstanding editor-in-chief and global editorial director, who was absolutely zen about the threat of an atmospheric river mucking up the mag’s Men of the Year celebration last night.
—
Chris Gardner,
HollywoodReporter,
14 Nov. 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
Florence Ion,
PC Magazine,
7 May 2026
At least not Will Welch, GQ’s longstanding editor-in-chief and global editorial director, who was absolutely zen about the threat of an atmospheric river mucking up the mag’s Men of the Year celebration last night.
—
Chris Gardner,
HollywoodReporter,
14 Nov. 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mucking up
Verb
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My first few hours with the EM11 NL were marked by overshooting links, fumbling through simple selections, and occasionally wondering why anyone would voluntarily use a vertical mouse.
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Bennett is concerned, for instance, that Hong could win her primary and then be defeated in November by Republican Tom Tiffany, fumbling the governorship of a swing state into the hands of a far-right Freedom Caucus member who dabbled in 2020 election conspiracy theories.
Verb
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Myers nails the realistic teen who is a far cry from the unflappable Nancy Drew, screwing up plenty and often terrified of what she's gotten herself into.
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First of all, don’t hide misdeeds and screwups, which comes naturally by not committing misdeeds and not screwing up.
Verb
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The Detroit Tigers are blowing a golden opportunity.
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The Sox bullpen didn’t perform any better on Sunday, blowing leads in the ninth and 10th innings of a 5-4 loss to get swept in Detroit and finish 1-5 on the road trip.
Cite this Entry
“Mucking up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mucking%20up. Accessed 29 Jun. 2026.
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