botched

American

[bocht] / bɒtʃt /

adjective

spoiled by poor or clumsy work; bungled.

The teachers are up in arms about the botched rollout of the new standards, which caused unnecessary confusion and stress for them and their students.

verb

the simple past tense and past participle of botch.

Other Word Forms

botchedly adverb

Etymology

Origin of botched

botch ¹ ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

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.

Even before the Fail Mary, players, coaches and fans had already grown frustrated with weeks of botched calls.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026

Despite obviously botched DHS operations in Los Angeles and Minneapolis, Noem said she had “no regrets.”

From Salon • Mar. 8, 2026

Come April 15, it’s hard to hide losses from stock sales or other botched investment schemes.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 5, 2026

Here again, a botched execution played a key role in bringing about this change.

From Slate • Feb. 24, 2026

He was definitely of middle age, but whoever had done his operation had botched it.

From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023