to muck up
5
7.6
- phrasal verb
- Informal
:
estropear
- He managed to muck up the recipe by forgetting to add salt.
- muck things up
- just muck it up
So at this point we have mucked up all the digits.
- So at this point we have mucked up all the digits.
- And the thing about kids, they're perfect and you can really muck that up.
- And so they completely mucked up your hunger circuitry and your fullness or satiety circuitry.
- All grains contain phytoestrogens which are going to effectively raise your estrogen and therefore muck up your testosterone to estrogen ratio.
- And my parents were really great about me asserting a creative point of view over the vinaigrette that my dad mucked up.
- And so that's, you know, when, when when, when things get mucked up there and not explained right.
Examples
-
The middlemen get in the middle and muck things up.
Blog text (10) -
Yeah, well, the problem is, it seems we've mucked it up.
-
And if you stay here, you will muck it all up.
-
I have no idea why anyone would want to muck it up even worse.
Blog text (12) -
Feel free to call me out on anything I really muck up.
Blog text (12) -
We do our best not to muck it up.
Blog text (14) -
You mucked up the whole exit.
-
Leave it to the politicians to muck it up and leave us defenseless!
Fiction book (1991) -
I would love to paint my kitchen cabinets and put on new hardware, but I am so afraid of mucking it up.
Blog text (12) -
The good news is that we currently have a reliable QB who isn't going to muck things up for us against Wofford.
Blog text (10)
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
597
2.8
To make a mistake that causes a problem
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
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
8.9
To spoil something by doing it badly
4
6.1
Made worse because someone handled it badly
4
8.1
To make a mess of a plan or task by doing it badly
4
4.5
To make something lose its order or structure
2
5.9
Ruined because someone did the job badly
2
5.4
To make a mistake especially by forgetting words on stage
2
6.8
To make an embarrassing mistake because you are careless or nervous
2
6.7
Do a job badly and make a mess of it
1
9.9
To pass poo or, in slang, to fail and make a mess of something
1
7.9
To do something badly and ruin how it turns out
1
9.9
To do something so badly that it fails
1
9.3
Do something very badly and spoil how it turns out
1
9.9
To ruin something by making a mistake or being careless
To spoil or ruin something by making a careless mistake
To ruin something by doing it badly
To do something badly so it goes wrong
To do something badly and make it fail
Do a job badly so it does not work
To ruin something by a careless mistake
To ruin something completely by making serious mistakes
Antonyms
How Ruined
Surface Forms
Morphology
muck + up
The base verb 'muck' (to soil or make dirty) plus the particle 'up' (which often signals completion/intensification) yields a clear metaphorical meaning of making a mess of or spoiling something. A B1 learner who knows both constituents can usually infer this extended sense, though the specific collocational use for 'making mistakes' is somewhat idiomatic and may require minimal exposure.
Etymology
Muck up also grew a figurative meaning from that same image of mess: if you cover a plan or a job in muck it is ruined or unusable, so to muck up came to mean to spoil or make a mess of something. That's why we now use muck up to say someone 'spoiled' a task by making mistakes.