messed up
Americanadjective
-
beaten up; looking disarrayed.
-
confused and unhappy.
-
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.
Because her whole life, she’s been told, ‘You’re wrong, you’ve messed up, you’ve got things wrong.’
From Salon • Jun. 25, 2026
"I messed up the first three launches, the first three launches failed," co-founder Elon Musk recalled years later.
From Barron's • Jun. 12, 2026
Tyson admitted he wasn’t familiar with Von, but thankfully stated he did indeed like him, because that would have really messed up the rest of the episode!
From Los Angeles Times • May 13, 2026
Trying to tell Nourafchan that he had lost his trading connection, one of the ring members said his “laborers” had messed up the job.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 12, 2026
Had grown comfortable with the weight of the device that had messed up the town.
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
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.
