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
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
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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Yet, as any visitor stalled in traffic or fumbling for cash to top up a transit card discovers, the old Seoul persists beneath the new.—
Christopher Elliott,
Forbes.com,
25 Jan. 2026
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What to know about the Patriots-Texans game Despite three turnovers and Drake Maye fumbling four times, the Patriots held on to beat the Houston Texans, 28-16.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
18 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Right now, Iranians are blaming, appropriately, the regime for screwing up the country.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
11 Jan. 2026
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Tim overcame his fear of screwing up again and asked Lucy to move in.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
6 Jan. 2026
Verb
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They’ve been burned enough by blowing leads this season.—
Josh Yohe,
New York Times,
1 Feb. 2026
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Wilkerson treated him like a traffic cone, blowing by and bullying him for baskets.—
Aaron Heisen,
Daily News,
1 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Mucking up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mucking%20up. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
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