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• mix-up
  mix-up

  noun

  a confused state of things; muddle; tangle.
• mix up
  mix up

  Confuse, confound, as in His explanation just mixed me up even more , or I always mix up the twins . [c. 1800]

mix-up

American  

[miks-uhp] / ˈmɪksˌʌp /

noun

• mix-ups
  plural

1. a confused state of things; muddle; tangle.

2. a fight.

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mix-up British  

noun

1. a confused condition or situation

2. informal a fight

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verb

1. to make into a mixture

   to mix up ingredients

2. to confuse or confound

   Tom mixes John up with Bill

3. (often passive) to put (someone) into a state of confusion

   I'm all mixed up

4. to involve (in an activity or group, esp one that is illegal)

   why did you get mixed up in that drugs racket?

5. informal to fight

mix up Idioms  

1. Confuse, confound, as in His explanation just mixed me up even more , or I always mix up the twins . [c. 1800]

2. Involve or implicate. This usage is usually put in the passive, as in He got mixed up with the wrong crowd . [Mid-1800s]

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• mix-ups
  plural

Etymology

Origin of mix-up

First recorded in 1835–45; noun use of verb phrase mix up

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mix-up mix up mix-ups

But this mix-up theory was dismissed as no-one next to Ethel was due to receive it during the time frame under scrutiny.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026

A few months after Mark Walter became the chairman and majority owner of the Dodgers, he was told a fan in one of Dodger Stadium’s upper decks was upset about a mix-up with his tickets.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026

The prosecution argued that the alleged test mix-up in no way jeopardized their case.

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

He told Christopher that his father’s death felt like a big mix-up, and that sometimes he would look down the street and imagine him walking home.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

Perhaps it had been lost in a comical mix-up involving two identical sheaves of paper, in which Penelope’s notes were mistakenly swapped for, say, a collection of soup recipes.

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood

You can mix up the kinds of stocks you own: technology versus consumer goods, for example, or overseas versus U.S. companies.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026

Stier wanted there to be six stand-up sets, mirroring other comedy shows like Shannon Cloud’s, but he wanted to mix up the flow with breaks between the sets.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026

It may omit relevant information while summarizing, mix up who is speaking and misinterpret context—such as missing nonverbal cues.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025

"The responsible culprits tried to mix up substandard net with qualified nets so as to cheat inspection and law enforcement agencies," Lee said, calling the suspects "evil".

From Barron's ● Dec. 2, 2025

I mix up her summer with my own.

From "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison

The Asian Games in Japan will close later Sunday after a fortnight of record-smashing displays from young stars, but marred by mix-ups, patchy crowds and accusations of mismanagement.

From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026

Sharing Isn’t Caring: Even though AI companies frown on chatbot password sharing, people still do it, leading to embarrassing discoveries, personal data mix-ups and even cybersecurity issues.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026

The mix-ups were the result of responding to a wildfire of unprecedented scale, officials said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2025

Mrs Cope referenced the hospital recently partially losing its mortuary accreditation, after assessors raised concerns about security following two mix-ups of bodies given to bereaved families.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2024

But such mix-ups had started over a century before, with a different master of disguise.

From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day