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Synonyms

messed up

American  

adjective

Slang.

  1. beaten up; looking disarrayed.

  2. confused and unhappy.

  3. intoxicated with alcohol or narcotics.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But last year during her annual benefits renewal, one of her employers messed up a number on the required paperwork.

From Slate • Apr. 19, 2026

“Kaley came from a messed up home life,” Lanier said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 28, 2026

First controller: "Yeah, I know. I was here. I tried to reach out to my staff. And we were dealing with an emergency earlier. I messed up."

From Barron's • Mar. 23, 2026

"I was trying to chase back down and I messed up at another corner. It wasn't the cleanest, which was a shame because I qualified really well yesterday and it felt good in practice."

From BBC • Mar. 8, 2026

If we’re a messed up, dysfunctional family, I guess this can go down as our single functional moment.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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