messy
Americanadjective
-
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.
adjective
Other Word Forms
- messily adverb
- messiness noun
Etymology
Origin of messy
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.
“From a trading perspective, I think Venezuela headlines are real, but for the short term, they are mostly about where a few barrels go and how messy the logistics are,” he noted.
From MarketWatch
Our innate curiosity, our instinct for gossip and our addiction to messy drama drive us to spend way more time consuming internet nonsense than we should.
If that is not the setup for some gloriously messy family drama, I don’t know what is — and that’s not even taking into account a potential love triangle.
From Los Angeles Times
They are also more apprehensive about the possible messy aftermath of U.S. military strikes, since they would deal with the consequences.
In practice, it was stressful and messy, especially as U.S. tariffs on Vietnam were also going up, making it tougher to plan ahead and hire more workers.
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.
