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• mix-up
  mix-up

  noun

  a confused state of things; muddle; tangle.
• mix up
  mix up

  Confuse, confound, as in His explanation just mixed me up even more , or I always mix up the twins . [c. 1800]

mix-up

American  

[miks-uhp] / ˈmɪksˌʌp /

noun

• mix-ups
  plural

1. a confused state of things; muddle; tangle.

2. a fight.

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mix-up British  

noun

1. a confused condition or situation

2. informal a fight

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verb

1. to make into a mixture

   to mix up ingredients

2. to confuse or confound

   Tom mixes John up with Bill

3. (often passive) to put (someone) into a state of confusion

   I'm all mixed up

4. to involve (in an activity or group, esp one that is illegal)

   why did you get mixed up in that drugs racket?

5. informal to fight

mix up Idioms  

1. Confuse, confound, as in His explanation just mixed me up even more , or I always mix up the twins . [c. 1800]

2. Involve or implicate. This usage is usually put in the passive, as in He got mixed up with the wrong crowd . [Mid-1800s]

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• mix-ups
  plural

Etymology

Origin of mix-up

First recorded in 1835–45; noun use of verb phrase mix up

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mix-up mix up mix-ups

Ella says Darryl Smith assured the group there had been a mix-up and claimed to be dealing with domestic issues.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026

The prosecution argued that the alleged test mix-up in no way jeopardized their case.

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

Lawyers for Australian mushroom murderer Erin Patterson say her conviction was undermined by a "catastrophic" mix-up that led to the jury staying at the same hotel as prosecutors and a key witness.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

He told Christopher that his father’s death felt like a big mix-up, and that sometimes he would look down the street and imagine him walking home.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

Washington must have been angry about the mix-up.

From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen

You can mix up the kinds of stocks you own: technology versus consumer goods, for example, or overseas versus U.S. companies.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026

Stier wanted there to be six stand-up sets, mirroring other comedy shows like Shannon Cloud’s, but he wanted to mix up the flow with breaks between the sets.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026

Lynsey says you should angle bowls downwards so they don't collect water and mix up your cutlery so spoons don't nest together.

From BBC ● Feb. 18, 2026

It may omit relevant information while summarizing, mix up who is speaking and misinterpret context—such as missing nonverbal cues.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025

Because it seemed like it should be a good thing, that I didn’t have that long-word-x reading disorder, that my brain didn’t mix up letters and numbers on the page.

From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff

Yet embarrassing discoveries, personal data mix-ups and even cybersecurity issues abound, so you should understand the risks—and ways to stay safe.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026

The mix-ups were the result of responding to a wildfire of unprecedented scale, officials said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2025

Mrs Cope referenced the hospital recently partially losing its mortuary accreditation, after assessors raised concerns about security following two mix-ups of bodies given to bereaved families.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2024

From that starting point, despite his many successes, there has been a steady pileup of scatterbrained gaffes and mix-ups.

From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2024

But such mix-ups had started over a century before, with a different master of disguise.

From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day