mess up
phrasal verb
messed up; messing up; messes up
informal
: to make a mistake : to do something incorrectly
About halfway into the recipe, I realized that I had messed up, and I had to start over.
—often + onShe's afraid she'll mess up on the test.
I messed up on my first attempt.
Examples of mess up in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The two messed up, leading to Welles' failure.
—
Lori A Bashian, FOXNews.com, 22 Dec. 2025
Why even risk messing up a good thing?
—Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 20 Dec. 2025
Charles LeClaire / Imagn Images The college football calendar is messed up, and something needs to be done about it.
—Manny Navarro, New York Times, 17 Dec. 2025
When a white coach messes up, there’s context.
—Okla Jones, Essence, 12 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mess up
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Lori A Bashian, FOXNews.com, 22 Dec. 2025
Why even risk messing up a good thing?
—Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 20 Dec. 2025
Charles LeClaire / Imagn Images The college football calendar is messed up, and something needs to be done about it.
—Manny Navarro, New York Times, 17 Dec. 2025
When a white coach messes up, there’s context.
—Okla Jones, Essence, 12 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mess up
Cite this Entry
“Mess up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mess%20up. Accessed 31 Dec. 2025.
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