MUCKING UP Synonyms: 61 Similar and Opposite Words

mucking up

verb

present participle of muck up

as in fumbling

to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way I swear, she mucks up everything she tries

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of mucking up The hydrogen flow keeps vaporized tin from mucking up the system’s optics. — IEEE Spectrum, 12 June 2023 Amid the memory shortage that's mucking up component prices globally, at least Qualcomm has some promising news for folks hoping to pay less for a daily driver. — Florence Ion, PC Magazine, 7 May 2026 At least not Will Welch, GQ’s longstanding editor-in-chief and global editorial director, who was absolutely zen about the threat of an atmospheric river mucking up the mag’s Men of the Year celebration last night. — Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 14 Nov. 2025 What's mucking up the process is a telepathic outlier named The Mule (Pilou Asbæk), whose ravenous appetite for galactic dominance has created anomalies in Seldon's branching prognostications of how this whole ordeal will unfold. — Jeff Spry, Space.com, 29 Aug. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for mucking up

Verb

With Yerry De los Santos also fumbling a bunt in the eighth, the Yanks tallied a season-high four errors on the night.

— Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 26 June 2026
My first few hours with the EM11 NL were marked by overshooting links, fumbling through simple selections, and occasionally wondering why anyone would voluntarily use a vertical mouse.

— Sascha Brodsky, PC Magazine, 21 June 2026

Definition of fumbling

Verb

Myers nails the realistic teen who is a far cry from the unflappable Nancy Drew, screwing up plenty and often terrified of what she's gotten herself into.

— Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 22 May 2026
First of all, don’t hide misdeeds and screwups, which comes naturally by not committing misdeeds and not screwing up.

— Eleanor Dearman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 May 2026

Definition of screwing up

Verb

Technically, officials said, blowing past the deadline means Alameda County is no longer in exclusive negotiations with the Oakland Acquisition Company.

— Shomik Mukherjee, Mercury News, 4 July 2026
But rather than cede ground to an outsider, the town's residents plant TNT in every single structure, blowing them up before Lassiter can get his hands on them.

— Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 3 July 2026

Definition of blowing

Browse Nearby Words

mucking (out)

mucking up

muck (out)

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Mucking up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mucking%20up. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of mucking up

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

gambol

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Popular in Wordplay

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

Games & Quizzes