goof-up

or goof·up

[ goof-uhp ]
See synonyms for goof-up on Thesaurus.com
nounSlang.
  1. a person who habitually makes mistakes, spoils things, gets into trouble, etc., especially through carelessness or irresponsibility.

  2. a mistake, blunder, malfunction, or the like.

Origin of goof-up

1
First recorded in 1940–45; noun use of verb phrase goof up

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use goof-up in a sentence

  • We know we're gonna get 'em eventually, because we know they're gonna goof up eventually, and then we'll have 'em.

    Nor Iron Bars a Cage.... | Gordon Randall Garrett
  • What kind of psionic force would it take to make so many people in the United States goof up the way they were doing?

    Occasion for Disaster | Gordon Randall Garrett

Other Idioms and Phrases with goof-up

goof-up

Blunder, make a mistake, spoil. For example, I really goofed up and got all the dates wrong. This expression emerged in the military during World War II, along with the synonymous goof off. Quite often up is omitted, as in Sorry, I goofed. [Slang; c. 1940]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.