mix-up
noun
a confused state of things; muddle; tangle.
mix-up
American
[miks-uhp]
/ ˈmɪksˌʌp /
noun
-
mix-ups
plural
-
a confused state of things; muddle; tangle.
-
a fight.
mix-up
British
noun
-
a confused condition or situation
-
informal a fight
verb
-
to make into a mixture
to mix up ingredients
-
to confuse or confound
Tom mixes John up with Bill
-
(often passive) to put (someone) into a state of confusion
I'm all mixed up
-
to involve (in an activity or group, esp one that is illegal)
why did you get mixed up in that drugs racket?
-
informal to fight
mix up
Idioms
-
Confuse, confound, as in His explanation just mixed me up even more , or I always mix up the twins . [c. 1800]
-
Involve or implicate. This usage is usually put in the passive, as in He got mixed up with the wrong crowd . [Mid-1800s]
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of mix-up
First recorded in 1835–45; noun use of verb phrase mix up
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.
See Examples For:
Alastair Chambers, from Gloucester, said the mix-up happened when he returned to Kathmandu after flying back in a humanitarian aid helicopter from a village near the Trishuli river.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
Mats Wieffer: Failed to deal with an early corner, which led to a mix-up with Verbruggen and ultimately Chelsea's opener.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
Some traders are counting on a mix-up by certain investors between the two companies, which would benefit Virgin Galactic.
From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026
United Airlines helped re-route Calderón to Nicaragua — and the airline did bump up his seat to first class to make up for the mix-up.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 12, 2026
“What happened with the time-universe mix-up right there?”
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
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
The only thing that could make this chock-a-block calendar better would be if they could mix up some of these venues.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
"I've never heard of an incident like this in the UK. It is the biggest fear of any IVF unit to mix up an egg or sperm or embryo."
From BBC ● Mar. 31, 2026
"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
The highways hardly even connect because Armelio doesn’t mix up his thoughts; he has one and does it and then he moves on to the next.
From "It’s Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini
Yet embarrassing discoveries, personal data mix-ups and even cybersecurity issues abound, so you should understand the risks—and ways to stay safe.
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
Mr Zuckerberg, who specialises in bankruptcy law, started a website to track mix-ups over his name, including the time he was inadvertently sued by the state of Washington for abuse.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2025
From that starting point, despite his many successes, there has been a steady pileup of scatterbrained gaffes and mix-ups.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 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
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.
