to mess up
597
2.8
- phrasal verb
- /mɛs ʌp/
- Informal
:
estropear
- I think I'm messing it up in some critical way.
Making sure I did not mess up a single thing.
- Making sure I did not mess up a single thing.
- Unless you like seeing me mess up, then you're mean.
- My flight home just like messed up my ears so bad.
- Like how easy is it to mess up it?
- And it's going great for that problem, but it's messing up my organ now.
- And another one shows him messing up his words again.
Examples
-
You know, Yes, I messed up, but it was my first time.
-
Luke, you are messing up my chance to impress Miss Kruchall.
-
I can just not mess it up and it's still hard.
-
I mean I could mess up again.
-
Your plan is messing up the plan, huh?
-
I know I messed up.
-
Look, I messed up, Mom.
-
So please don't mess it up.
-
Don't mess up my wedding, man.
-
I really messed up when I forgot to send the important email.
Synonyms
∞
4.2
To handle something in a way that causes damage or problems
641
6.3
To make a mistake that ruins what you are doing
203
9.9
To make a serious mistake that ruins something
80
2.8
To make something less good or enjoyable
65
2.7
To make people confused and things messy
63
6.0
To do something badly and spoil the result
37
9.9
To do something badly and ruin how it turns out
27
4.9
Make a mistake or cause someone else to make one
27
4.1
To make a small careless mistake
20
4.9
Deal with something badly so it causes problems or damage
19
3.5
To do something clumsily and make a mistake
18
5.4
To move in a clumsy, confused way
17
5.6
To make a silly or careless mistake
16
6.8
To do something clumsily so it causes mistakes
8
6.4
To make a mistake that ruins something because you are careless
5
8.2
To fail to catch or handle something because you are clumsy
5
7.6
To ruin something by making mistakes or doing it badly
5
8.9
To spoil something by doing it badly
4
8.1
To make a mess of a plan or task by doing it badly
2
6.8
To make an embarrassing mistake because you are careless or nervous
2
5.4
To make a mistake especially by forgetting words on stage
2
6.7
Do a job badly and make a mess of it
1
2.1
Make a place messy so things are not in order
1
9.9
To cause a lot of damage and chaos to a place or thing
1
4.2
Do something that is a serious and embarrassing mistake
1
7.9
To do something badly and ruin how it turns out
1
9.9
To ruin something by making a mistake or being careless
1
9.9
To do something so badly that it fails
1
7.4
To make a small mistake when trying to do something, for example in sport or speech
1
9.3
Do something very badly and spoil how it turns out
To ruin something by doing it badly
To spoil or ruin something by making a careless mistake
To ruin something completely by making serious mistakes
To make a plan or process become confused and fail
To ruin something by a careless mistake
To do something badly so it goes wrong
Do a job badly so it does not work
To do something badly and make it fail
Antonyms
How Damaged
∞
1.0
∞
2.0
885
1.4
- Informal
597
2.8
80
2.8
738
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
mess + up
The meaning 'to spoil, damage, or ruin' follows directly from combining 'mess' (to make dirty, untidy, or disordered) with the particle 'up', which here adds a sense of completion/intensification; together they yield 'make a mess of' or 'ruin'. This verb+particle composition is a common, fairly literal pattern in English (and parallels exist in many languages), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would likely infer the meaning.
Etymology
Mess up comes from the image of ruining a plan or a piece of work by doing it badly. If you make a mess of a job or put things in the wrong order you 'mess' it up, which is why it now means 'to spoil' or 'make a big mistake'.