messy
- adjective
- /ˈmɛsi/
- His desk is always messy, filled with papers and unorganized supplies.
- messy and smelly
- leave the room messy
And it'll be one big fat, messy, ugly paragraph.
- And it'll be one big fat, messy, ugly paragraph.
- It's my desk in its messiest state ever.
- So it was all just a messy, not a good situation.
- If you're giving out messy food, give extra napkins.
- Like there's just so much that can make things messy, OK.
- And then he posted the video, knowing how messy that was.
- I said, ah, my, my house is so messy right now.
- It was messy and interesting and weird and.
Examples
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It's amazing how it could get so messy in just a night.
-
Seemed like it was quite a messy divorce process.
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But that leads to a very messy situation.
-
I think you can kind of see how messy this is.
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Putting a strategy into action is a difficult and messy challenge for a president.
Academic text (2011) -
Reality, as is often the case, lies somewhere in this messy middle ground.
Academic text (2011) -
Oh, I'm sorry it's so messy.
-
However, the real world is always far more messy and complex than our theories and expectations about it.
Academic text (2001) -
New York's this big, messy place.
-
My kids see me as flawed, messy, and imperfect.
Synonyms
Not clean or covered with dirt
Very dirty and covered with mud or dirt
Untidy and done without care
Not in a clear order or plan
Full of too many things so it looks messy
Having messy hair, clothes, or things around them
Not neat in appearance, often with messy hair or clothes
Not neat, with things like papers or clothes left around
Something that is untidy and not in order
Not arranged in a clear or tidy way
A place or thing that is untidy and not in order
Dirty and untidy, often wet after being in rain or mud
Not clean because it has mud or grease on it
Untidy and dirty, with things out of place
Messy and untidy in how a person or place looks
Covered all over with dirt or mud
Mixed together in a confused and untidy way
Covered with rubbish and other things in an untidy way
Having hair or fabric that is messy and stuck together in clumps
Dirty and messy, with things in the wrong places
Antonyms
How Messy
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Messy comes from the noun mess, which long ago meant a 'meal' or the place where people ate, and those places often became untidy, so mess came to mean 'a lot of disorder'. The ending -y turns it into an adjective, so messy means 'dirty or untidy'.