SCREWED UP Synonyms: 82 Similar and Opposite Words

screwed up

verb

past tense of screw up

as in fumbled

to make a mistake we all screw up from time to time, so don't sweat it

Synonyms & Similar Words

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as in blew

to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way you've totally screwed up the spreadsheet

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of screwed up But four years ago, Sorsby screwed up in a massive way. — Trey Wallace Outkick, FOXNews.com, 2 June 2026 The two screwed up a top-rope stunner as Excalibur struggled to explain what happened like a 2026 Jim Ross. — Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 24 May 2026 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 That seems like our priorities are screwed up. — Terry Gross, NPR, 19 Feb. 2026 Kid Rock‘s lip-synch was screwed up. — Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 10 Feb. 2026 The climate may get screwed up in new ways as scientists attempt to turn the planet’s temperature dial down. — Christian Elliott, The Atlantic, 31 Jan. 2026 What Mager is showing here is the difference between kids and adults, the openness and willingness to be bold and confront things head on with matter-of-fact honesty in a world that is being screwed up by their elders and those in charge. — Pete Hammond, Deadline, 26 Jan. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for screwed up

Verb

After Duran took third on a fly ball, pinch-hitter Joc Pederson hit a ground ball up the middle that was fumbled by Taylor Walls, allowing Duran to score.

— ABC News, ABC News, 30 July 2026
Chad Powers season 2 sees the actor reprise his role as Russ Holliday, a former star college quarterback who fumbled his promising career after a humiliating championship-game meltdown.

— Shelby Stivale, Entertainment Weekly, 29 July 2026

Definition of fumbled

Verb

Moss paused to watch, as an oak catkin blew down and nestled in his hair.

— Nick Paumgarten, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026
On a recent summer day, loud air conditioners blew cool air as nurses drew blood and tended wounds, calling to mind the makeshift spaces used during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

— Connor Sheets, Los Angeles Times, 3 Aug. 2026

Definition of blew

Verb

The Iberians slipped up big time in their first match of the tournament, being shocked by Switzerland 1-0, bringing back ghosts of tournament failures past for Spanish fans.

— Patrick Sung Cuadrado, CNN Money, 14 July 2026
Had Pep Guardiola’s side slipped up at a subdued Etihad, then Arsenal and Mikel Arteta could have won the title with victory over Burnley on Monday.

— Sam Lee, New York Times, 13 May 2026

Definition of slipped up

Verb

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
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

Definition of fouled up

Verb

The drama didn’t end there; while exiting the ride with the fox, one of the employees tripped but quickly regained her balance and the fox.

— Kelli Bender, PEOPLE, 6 Aug. 2026
Iyo climbed atop the barricade with help from a fan, but Liv tripped her up and took control of the match.

— Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 2026

Definition of tripped

Verb

An exciting World Cup run mucked up by a president for whom muck might as well be a currency.

— Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2026
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

Definition of mucked up

Browse Nearby Words

screwed around

screwed up

screwing

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Style

“Screwed up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/screwed%20up. Accessed 8 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of screwed up

verb

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