balls-up
1
9.9
- noun
- /bɔːlz ʌp/
- Offensive
:
cagada (vulg.)
- His careless handling of the documents resulted in a major balls-up that affected the entire team.
Examples
-
That was a balls-up with a cherry on top.
-
The project turned into a balls-up after several mistakes were made in the planning stages.
-
What was his balls up on Question Time?
-
Here, this fella's making a complete balls-up of castrating this alpaca.
-
It was a complete and utter balls-up and I've had a terrible day, thanks largely to you.
-
When the presentation crashed unexpectedly, it became a complete balls-up that left everyone confused.
Synonyms
76
6.2
A complete embarrassing failure that happens suddenly and causes big problems
53
3.3
A mistake that happens when someone confuses one thing with another
49
3.0
A careless mistake that causes embarrassment or problems
33
6.1
A careless mistake that causes problems or embarrassment
20
6.5
A problem that happens because of a big mistake and spoils plans
9
5.1
A situation that is badly organized and full of mistakes
5
7.7
A serious, embarrassing mistake often caused by confusion or poor planning
5
9.9
A serious or embarrassing mistake that causes problems
3
6.5
A careless mistake that shows a lack of skill
3
7.6
An embarrassing mistake that happens because of bad or careless work
1
9.6
A serious mistake that happens because of confusion or poor planning
1
9.9
A very serious mistake that causes big problems, often because someone was careless
A confused, badly organized situation that causes problems
A very bad, chaotic situation used as rude slang
A very serious and foolish error that causes big problems
A small mistake that causes embarrassment or trouble
Antonyms
How Bad
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Balls-up probably comes from the idea of something 'balled up', rolled or tangled into a messy ball, or from a softer form of the rude word bollocks ('nonsense' or a rude name for 'testicles'). So a balls-up is a situation that has been made into a complete mess.