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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

But I’m hoping to be surprised this year — just not in the same way as last year’s mess-up.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 1, 2018

"If those brutes' instinct isn't at fault there'll be a pretty mess-up," thought Denbigh.

From Rounding up the Raider A Naval Story of the Great War by Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman

"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

“I like to have my little secret area where I can mess up as many times as I want without any eyes on me.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026

If Leeds lose this, then it is squeaky bum time for them with games to come against Tottenham and West Ham, but they won't mess up.

From BBC ● Apr. 30, 2026

But it’s sort of funny, because even without any lines to mess up, I’m nervous.

From "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli

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

“This game might be a record for me, for mess-ups, and still winning,” Tide coach Nick Saban told reporters.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 7, 2023

In this scheme, individual mess-ups can become full-system failures.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 28, 2021

It let me listen to myself, so I could correct mess-ups and smooth out the hard sections.

From "Blended" by Sharon M. Draper