as in to fumble
to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way
I swear, she mucks up everything she tries
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of muck up
Part of that journey was squaring Montoya’s goal of playing entertaining, attacking soccer with mucking up the game.
—
Michael Nowels, The Mercury News, 13 Nov. 2024
Draymond Green, who has been terrific this season defensively, constantly mucked up the paint with rotations.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 6 Nov. 2024
This wouldn’t be the first time such a discrepancy mucks up the MCU.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Vulture, 26 July 2024
Stock market The stock market is off to its best start to a year since 1997 but a massive dockworkers strike underway in the US could muck up some of that progress, economists say.
—Alexandra Banner, CNN, 2 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for muck up 
Michael Nowels, The Mercury News, 13 Nov. 2024
Draymond Green, who has been terrific this season defensively, constantly mucked up the paint with rotations.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 6 Nov. 2024
This wouldn’t be the first time such a discrepancy mucks up the MCU.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Vulture, 26 July 2024
Stock market The stock market is off to its best start to a year since 1997 but a massive dockworkers strike underway in the US could muck up some of that progress, economists say.
—Alexandra Banner, CNN, 2 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for muck up
Recent Examples of Synonyms for muck up
Verb
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The seventh season will no doubt spotlight Leclerc’s win in his native Monaco, Norris fumbling his first WDC and Carlos Sainz’s search for an F1 seat after Hamilton’s shock move to Ferrari.—
Lily Ford,
The Hollywood Reporter,
7 Feb. 2025
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Snoop Dogg couldn't fumble the opportunity to roast the nearly 50-year age gap between football coach Bill Belichick and his girlfriend at the NFL Honors.—
Jessica Wang,
EW.com,
7 Feb. 2025
Verb
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But the wind is blowing strangely now that Donald Trump is back in the White House as President and officially fighting against diversity, equity and inclusion.—
Evan Clark,
WWD,
3 Feb. 2025
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By relying on the two most powerful forces blowing through Wall Street: the tenacious bid for stocks among retail investors and an immaculate rotation among sectors that insulates the tape against more violent moves.—
Michael Santoli,
CNBC,
1 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Robby doesn’t want to involve the police and screw up David’s life if this is a false alarm, or there’s still a chance to talk to the kid.—
Maggie Fremont,
Vulture,
16 Jan. 2025
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When politicians screw up on a public stage, those blunders can be, at best, meme-ified and, at worst, career-ending.—
Paul Du Quenoy,
Newsweek,
31 Dec. 2024
Verb
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In between those foul shots, the Jayhawks intentionally fouled up three.—
Shreyas Laddha,
Kansas City Star,
29 Jan. 2025
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For just one of 67 counties to use the wrong one could foul up an entire statewide count.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
6 Jan. 2024
Verb
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Some of Werfel’s friends thought that this metamorphosis had ruined his literary gift.—
Alex Ross,
The New Yorker,
3 Feb. 2025
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Valentine's Day is coming and most romantics don't plan to let inflation ruin their holiday.—
Mike Snider,
USA TODAY,
3 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Kuch booted him from the program, the former student alleges.—
Sara Coello,
Charlotte Observer,
3 Feb. 2025
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Trump's inspectors general firings generate some shrugs Trump's ongoing civil service shakeup saw more than a dozen inspectors general booted from their posts across the federal government Friday.—
Avery Lotz,
Axios,
26 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near muck up
Cite this Entry
“Muck up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/muck%20up. Accessed 13 Feb. 2025.
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