botch

¹ American  

[boch] / bɒtʃ /

verb (used with object)

botches, present (3rd person singular) botched, past participle, past botching present participle

1. to spoil by poor work; bungle (often followed byup ).

   He botched up the job thoroughly.

   Synonyms:

   flub, butcher, muff, mismanage, ruin

2. to do or say in a bungling manner.

3. to mend or patch in a clumsy manner.

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noun

1. a clumsy or poor piece of work; bungle.

   He made a complete botch of his first attempt at baking.

2. a clumsily added part or patch.

3. a disorderly or confused combination.

botch ² American  

[boch] / bɒtʃ /

noun

1. a swelling on the skin; a boil.

2. an eruptive disease.

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botch British  

/ bɒtʃ /

verb

1. to spoil through clumsiness or ineptitude

2. to repair badly or clumsily

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noun

1. Also called: botch-up.  a badly done piece of work or repair (esp in the phrase make a botch of ( something ))

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• botcher
  noun
• botchery
  noun

Inflected Forms

Participles

• botching
  present
• botched
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• botch
  simple
• botches
  simple
• have botched
  perfect
• has botched
  perfect
• am botching
  progressive
• are botching
  progressive
• is botching
  progressive
• have been botching
  perfect progressive
• has been botching
  perfect progressive

Past

• botched
  simple
• had botched
  perfect
• was botching
  progressive
• were botching
  progressive
• had been botching
  perfect progressive

Future

• will botch
  simple
• will have botched
  perfect
• will be botching
  progressive
• will have been botching
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of botch¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English bocchen “to patch up”; perhaps to be identified with bocchen “to swell up, bulge” (verbal derivative of bocche botch ² ), though sense development unclear

Origin of botch²

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English bocche, botch(e), from Old North French boche, dialectal variant of Old French, Middle French boce boss ²

Explanation

If you botch something, you make a mess of it or you ruin it. If you totally botch your lines in the school play, you stammer and stutter your way through the whole thing. Interestingly, the word botch originally meant the opposite of what it means today. The Middle English word bocchen meant to mend or repair. As a noun botch means an embarrassing mistake or something that is done poorly, especially due to lack of skill. If they've never painted before, your friends working on set design might make a complete botch of the scenery for the play, which might involve repainting the whole thing.

Example Sentences

After deciding on Hutchins, Souza said he told the film’s producers and production managers to hire her: “Please don’t botch the deal because she’s really great.”

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 1, 2024

He’ll botch a gig over his annoyance at not being allowed to call a stranger by a pet name she reserves for her closest friend.

From Salon • Feb. 9, 2024

The botch required the rescoring of 300,000 exams, scholastic victims of the knotty coin rotation paradox.

From Scientific American • Jun. 20, 2023

Now when I watch that character knock people over in her fitness class or botch an audition, I feel only solidarity and pride: Go, girl.

From Slate • May 20, 2023

“You’ve done enough to botch this affair. I bid five thousand dollars on the rest of the property, Carlson. Let’s get this thing over with.”

From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool

Related Words

• bobble
• bumble
• bungle
• err
• flub
• fumble
• miscalculate
• mishandle
• misjudge
• mismanage
• muff
• screw up