to muck

Examples

• All

• We do our best not to muck it up.

  Blog text (14)

• The children mucked up the yard with mud after playing in the rain.

• Feel free to call me out on anything I really muck up.

  Blog text (12)

• Because if you get involved, you're just going to muck things up for you and for Chris.

  Fiction book (1995)

• "I'm afraid the authorities will muck this up, that they won't use it right."

  Fiction book (1995)

• Krishnamurti was saying that love can only exist when the ego is not around to muck things up.

  Blog text (6)

• I'll not have a young'un mucking up the year's work.

  Fiction book (1994)

• So that when they can say, Mike, you're mucking it up and you're better than that.

• Allred points out that Hamdan was already charged before Hartmann started mucking things up.

  Blog text (19)

• Please don't muck up the floor with your muddy shoes.

Synonyms

M

to mess

vsto muck

248 1.0

To make something untidy or dirty

emphasizes dirtying by mud or filth rather than general disorder

S

to soil

vsto muck

59 4.5

To make something dirty with mud or dirt

is narrower in stressing mud or filth as the agent

F

to foul

vsto muck

18 4.5

To make something dirty or blocked so it does not work properly

is mainly about making dirty using mud or filth rather than pollution

D

to dirty

vsto muck

14 1.0

To make something unclean or covered with dirt

is more specific about dirtying with mud or filth

M

to muss

vsto muck

6 7.9

To make hair, clothes, or a surface messy

relies on mud or filth to create dirt rather than mere untidiness

M

to muddy

vsto muck

5 1.9

Make something dirty with mud or sediment

is the overall act of dirtying with mud or filth

B

to bedraggle

vsto muck

1 9.9

Make someone or something wet and dirty by moving through muddy ground

is the general act of dirtying with mud or filth

M

to mire

vsto muck

1 7.9

To make something dirty by covering it with mud

refers more generally to making objects dirty with mud or filth

M

to mud

vsto muck

1 5.1

To cover a surface with soft wet earth to make it smooth

means making dirty with wet earth or filth in general

S

to smirch

vsto muck

• Archaic

1 9.9

To put a dirty mark on something like a dress or carpet

focuses specifically on dirtying with mud or filth rather than stains

D

to draggle

vsto muck

1 9.4

Make something wet and dirty by pulling it through mud or water

is the broader action of making dirty with mud or filth

M

to muddy up

vsto muck

1 3.5

To make something dirty with wet dirt, for example shoes or floors

expresses the same mud focus but in a different verb form

G

to grime

vsto muck

1 6.6

To make something dirty by covering it with dirt or soot

uses mud or filth as the main way to make things dirty

B

to begrime

vsto muck

1 9.4

To cover something with dark dirt so it becomes dirty

relies more on mud or filth rather than greasy dirt

M

to muck up

vsto muck

• Informal

6.7

To make something dirty with mud or dirt

is the single-word entry with the same meaning

B

to bemire

vsto muck

9.9

To cover someone or something with mud

focuses on making surfaces dirty specifically with mud or filth

S

to smut

vsto muck

• Archaic

7.9

To stain something with black dirt or soot

centres on mud or filth as the main dirtying substance

C

to colly

vsto muck

• Archaic

9.9

To make something dirty or stained

is focused on dirtiness caused specifically by mud or filth

Antonyms

C

clean

∞ 1.0

Free from dirt or harmful things

P

to purify

30 4.6

To remove dirt and bad chemicals from water or air to make them clean

Idioms

S

stuck in the muck

• Informal

8.9

Not able to move forward because of a messy, difficult situation

Phrasal Verbs

M

to muck up

• Informal

5 7.6

To ruin something by making mistakes or doing it badly

M

to muck out

3 6.5

To clean animal waste from a stable or pen

M

to muck around

• UK

3 8.4

To spend time doing not important things in a relaxed way

M

to muck about

• UK

1 8.7

To spend time doing things that are not important

M

to muck up

• Informal

6.7

To make something dirty with mud or dirt

Compounds

M

muckety muck

• Slang

4 9.9

An important, powerful person who is usually wealthy

H

high-muck-a-muck

• Offensive

1 9.9

A person who acts very important and looks down on others

F

foreign muck

• Offensive

9.9

Dirt or waste from another place that people dislike

How Dirty

to pollute

109 3.4

to muck

3 3.5

to dirty

14 1.0

to soil

59 4.5

Surface Forms

Etymology