messy
characterized by a dirty, untidy, or disordered condition: a messy room.
causing a mess: a messy recipe; messy work.
embarrassing, difficult, or unpleasant: a messy political situation.
characterized by moral or psychological confusion.
Origin of messy
1Other words from messy
- mess·i·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use messy in a sentence
Miard later told me that colugo feces are like dried lentils — nothing messy.
On a cool night in Malaysia, scientists track mysterious colugos across the treetops | Yao-Hua Law | November 20, 2020 | Science NewsThe term is messy, overused and means different things to different people.
How design keeps companies focused on people as the pandemic pushes businesses online | claychandler | November 17, 2020 | FortuneThe researchers performed computer simulations that suggested the shock wave has a transition region in which magnetic fields become turbulent and messy.
Giant lasers help re-create supernovas’ explosive, mysterious physics | Emily Conover | November 12, 2020 | Science NewsPyroptosis and necroptosis are messier, causing cells to spill their guts and release cytokines and debris that can trigger more inflammation.
How two immune system chemicals may trigger COVID-19’s deadly cytokine storms | Tina Hesman Saey | October 30, 2020 | Science NewsIn interparty conflicts, you see relationships that make the alliances and coalitions that are formed seem messier, because it isn’t just ideological, it’s relational.
Voice Poll Reveals Tight Mayoral Race, Messy Post-GOP Future for Dems | Andrew Keatts | October 27, 2020 | Voice of San Diego
Many critics have disdain precisely for this strange messiness of his, this showmanship that dares to create a new order.
Academics used to push politicians to see truth clearly—in all its messiness.
These nuns are far more enmeshed in the world, with all its messiness and ambiguities, than the male hierarchy is.
Progressives hate the messiness of this, preferring the direct application of reason by the intelligent elite.
The unwritten rule of luxury goods marketing is to rise above the messiness of the moment.
The messiness of the place merely made the madness of the whole program seem worse.
The Fourth R | George Oliver SmithBut in spite of the messiness, it was the best food he had eaten in days.
The Time Traders | Andre Norton
British Dictionary definitions for messy
/ (ˈmɛsɪ) /
dirty, confused, or untidy
Derived forms of messy
- messily, adverb
- messiness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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