to fuck it up
37
9.9
- phrasal verb
- /fʌk ɪt ʌp/
- Offensive
:
cagarla
- I was nervous about the presentation, and I ended up fucking it up badly.
- just fuck it up
- fuck it up again
- fuck it up now
Don't fuck it up there, a girl.
- Don't fuck it up there, a girl.
- So the chances of fucking it up are huge.
- Every time they fucked it up, it would say Happy Halloween, right?
- And so like ACAA operation, they could have fucked it up to make him look bad.
- But then as the next thought was, but if you fuck it up, goodnight, your career's over.
- And I think I fucked it up with Kalila.
- Like, how can how did I fuck it up that bad?
- He's like Kyle passing you the torch, man, don't fuck it up.
Examples
-
I just fucked it up.
-
You gotta be real careful with the angle or you'll fuck it up big time.
-
You cannot fuck it up even if you try.
-
Like, how can how did I fuck it up that bad?
-
Do not fuck it up on me, private!
-
I really fucked it up this time.
-
Now, don't fuck it up.
-
Don't fuck it up this time.
-
I send him to do one simple thing, and he fucks it up completely.
Fiction book (2001) -
And I think I fucked it up with Kalila.
Synonyms
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
27
4.9
Make a mistake or cause someone else to make one
27
4.1
To make a small careless mistake
17
5.6
To make a silly or careless mistake
16
6.8
To do something clumsily so it causes mistakes
9
9.9
Make a very bad mistake because you are not careful
8
6.4
To make a mistake that ruins something because you are careless
5
7.6
To ruin something by making mistakes or 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
4.2
Do something that is a serious and embarrassing mistake
1
9.9
To cause a lot of damage and chaos to a place or thing
1
8.4
To do something wrong by accident in a small, silly way
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
1
7.4
To make a small mistake when trying to do something, for example in sport or speech
To spoil or ruin something by making a careless mistake
To ruin something by doing it badly
To make a serious, embarrassing mistake by being careless
To do something badly so it goes wrong
To ruin something completely by making serious mistakes
To do something badly and make it fail
To ruin something by a careless mistake
Antonyms
How Bad
∞
2.0
- Offensive
37
9.9
- Informal
641
6.3
- Informal
597
2.8
- Informal
27
4.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
fuck + it + up
Although the particle 'up' adds a resultative/completive sense that is somewhat predictable, the verb 'fuck' has a primary literal meaning (sexual) and the extension to 'do something badly / ruin' is a colloquial, metaphorical shift. A B1 learner who knows the words may guess a negative or intense action but would not reliably derive the specific meaning 'to mess something up' without prior exposure; the expression is therefore partially but not fully transparent.
Etymology
Fuck it up comes from blunt slang where fuck means to treat something roughly and up shows the action is complete; imagine someone forcing a machine until it breaks. That's why the phrase means 'to do something badly' or 'to ruin it'.