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• mess-up
  mess-up

  noun

  a blunder; state of confusion; mix-up.
• mess up
  mess up

  Create disorder in; muddle or ruin. For example, On rainy days the children really mess up the house , or He had a way of messing up his own business . [c. 1900]

mess-up

American  

[mes-uhp] / ˈmɛsˌʌp /

noun

• mess-ups
  plural

1. a blunder; state of confusion; mix-up.

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mess up Idioms  

1. Create disorder in; muddle or ruin. For example, On rainy days the children really mess up the house , or He had a way of messing up his own business . [c. 1900]

2. Make a mistake, especially from nervousness or confusion, as in He messed up and took the wrong dossier to the meeting , or Jill swore she would never mess up again . [ Colloquial ; early 1900s]

3. Beat up, manhandle, as in Joe got messed up in a barroom brawl . [ Slang ; early 1900s]

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• mess-ups
  plural

Etymology

Origin of mess-up

First recorded in 1900–05; noun use of verb phrase mess up

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mess-up mess up mess-ups

"What Alan Garten did here is a pretty significant mess-up and again, as you just appropriately stated, it corroborates everything that I said."

From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2023

His wife Margaret said it was a "total mess-up" and said they felt "sick and very, very angry".

From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2020

Nick Faldo has a pretty eye-opening mess-up right off the bat on the telecast.

From Golf Digest ● Apr. 10, 2020

And, although I was just a bit-player in the story, the film dramatises a monumental mess-up on my behalf – the biggest mistake of my career.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 27, 2019

Well, I don’t want any mess-up with the brakeman, so we may as well walk out now that they’re coming back for him.

From Lorimer of the Northwest by Alfred James Dewey

“What happens if I mess up or something?” he asked.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

"I've been in a daze ever since I saw the announcement. Until more information comes out, I need to be careful not to mess up my daily life from overthinking," wrote X user Yachi.

From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026

Aromatics, herbs and spices: This is where things become delightfully difficult to mess up.

From Salon ● Jun. 16, 2026

"But if you mess up on track and field, then it all goes away."

From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2026

“Sneaky, don’t play with me!” she says, holding a hand in front of her nose, like he smells so bad it might mess up her face.

From "Isaiah Dunn Is My Hero" by Kelly J. Baptist

Given the current state of AI and agents’ high-profile mess-ups, Palantir’s slop focus isn’t ungrounded in facts.

From Barron's ● May 6, 2026

The new update still produced some single-word mess-ups, while the older software had more gibberish phrases.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 29, 2026

No room for mess-ups, and if you do, the show must go on.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2023

Also, make sure the money moves as directly as possible, avoiding any potential mess-ups that leave you with a withdrawal — and a tax nightmare — rather than a consolidation.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 17, 2021

Five pages of anger and mess-ups and erasures.

From "Stella by Starlight" by Sharon M. Draper