mess up
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
Surprisingly, this is not entirely where the film is going; a little before the halfway mark, the Minions mess up yet again (leaving a vacuum, one imagines, the Three Stooges will soon fill).
—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
29 June 2026
Over the course of its more than four-decade run, the series has sometimes messed up in ways that are only caught after the fact by eagle-eyed audiences.
—
Louis Peitzman,
Entertainment Weekly,
29 June 2026
And, in these messed up times, that is extremely important.
—
Jim Ryan,
Forbes.com,
25 June 2026
Y’all keep messing up the team chemistry.
—
Alex Zietlow,
Charlotte Observer,
25 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for mess up
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Damon Wise,
Deadline,
29 June 2026
Over the course of its more than four-decade run, the series has sometimes messed up in ways that are only caught after the fact by eagle-eyed audiences.
—
Louis Peitzman,
Entertainment Weekly,
29 June 2026
And, in these messed up times, that is extremely important.
—
Jim Ryan,
Forbes.com,
25 June 2026
Y’all keep messing up the team chemistry.
—
Alex Zietlow,
Charlotte Observer,
25 June 2026
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 5 Jul. 2026.
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