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mess up. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
mess up, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
mess up in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Pronunciation
Verb
mess up (third-person singular simple present messes up, present participle messing up, simple past and past participle messed up)
- (transitive) To make a mess of; to untidy, disorder, soil, or muss.
- The afternoon breeze messed up my hair.
1962, S. Schoeman, Strike!: A Handbook of Angling in South African Coastal Waters, page 58:[…] kwatumas, those aggressive and sharp-toothed eels that so thoroughly mess up one's tackle when hooked […]
- (transitive) To cause a problem with; to introduce an error or mistake in; to make muddled or confused; spoil; ruin.
- The change messed something up, and it's not working anymore.
- (transitive) To botch, bungle; to perform poorly on.
- Well, I messed up my solo, but otherwise it was a good concert.
- (intransitive) To make a mistake; to do something incorrectly; to perform poorly.
- He has a hard time getting started because he's afraid he'll mess up.
- She messed up on her final exam.
- (transitive) To cause (another person) to make unwanted mistakes in a given task, usually through distraction or obnoxious behavior.
- Stop bumping me! You keep messing me up!
- (transitive) To damage; injure.
- He messed up his elbow at the track meet.
- (transitive, slang) To manhandle; beat up; rough up.
- Her brother's friends messed him up a little after he cheated on her.
- (transitive, slang) To discombobulate, utterly confuse, or confound psychologically; to throw into a state of mental disarray.
- That girl totally messed me up, man. I'm not sure who I am anymore.
Synonyms
- (make a physical mess of): fuck up (vulgar), gum (verb: "gum up")
- (cause an error or problem in): fuck up, jack up, louse up, screw up
- (botch, bungle): gum (verb: "gum up"), foul up, fuck up, screw up
- (intransitive: make a mistake, perform poorly): fuck up, screw up; see also Thesaurus:make a mistake
- (cause (another) to make mistakes): screw up
- (damage, injure): fuck up, jack up, screw up
- (manhandle, rough up): fuck up
- (discombobulate, throw into mental disarray): fuck up
Derived terms
Translations
to cause an error or problem in
transitive: to botch, bungle
- Finnish: mokata (fi), sählätä (fi), möhliä (fi), tumpeloida
- French: rater (fr), foirer (fr), bâcler (fr)
- German: verpfuschen (de), vermurksen (de), verkorksen (de), verpatzen (de)
- Hungarian: elront (hu), elszúr (hu)
- Slovak: zbabrať, pokaziť, kaziť
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to cause to make unwanted mistakes
to throw into a state of mental disarray
See also
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