messy
Americanadjective
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characterized by a dirty, untidy, or disordered condition.
a messy room.
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causing a mess.
a messy recipe; messy work.
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embarrassing, difficult, or unpleasant.
a messy political situation.
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characterized by moral or psychological confusion.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of messy
Explanation
Messy things are sloppy, disorganized, or dirty. Your messy room isn't bothering anyone but you — but your messy clothes might not be appropriate for your cousin's formal wedding. When a house is messy, it's cluttered and untidy — there might be clothes on the floor or dishes on the table and counters. A messy notebook could be jammed with papers in no particular order, and a child's messy face may very well be covered with chocolate ice cream. Messy dates from the 1840s, and its figurative meaning, "unethical" or "confused," like a messy divorce, came along in the 1920s.
Vocabulary lists containing 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.
In real life, most jobs are very messy.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 28, 2026
It’s also a tradition so difficult, chaotic, and messy that right now it could be the perfect symbol for the country itself.
From Slate • Jun. 24, 2026
It’s gonna be a long, hot, messy summer.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 22, 2026
“Automation is “putting intelligence and control into what is a pretty messy process,” he says.
From Barron's • Jun. 17, 2026
In the Jefferson-Madison collaboration, Madison was not just responsible for handling the messy particulars; he was also accountable for shielding his chief from the political ambitions throbbing away in his own soul.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
