mess up

phrasal verb

messed up; messing up; messes up

informal

: to make a mistake : to do something incorrectly

About halfway into the recipe, I realized that I had messed up, and I had to start over.

—often + on

She's afraid she'll mess up on the test.

I messed up on my first attempt.

Examples of mess up in a Sentence

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What to expect: This is great, elevated bar food, without being stuffy or messing up Metier's superb laidback vibe. —

Melissa Santos, Axios, 11 Dec. 2024 Poor positioning can mess up the mechanics of that joint and everything connected to that joint, increasing the risk of re-injury in not only that knee but the other knee as well. —

Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes, 10 Dec. 2024 Paige doesn’t need to put Craig in his place; Craig knows his place, and that place is not to do a single thing that would mess up his relationship. —

Brian Moylan, Vulture, 6 Dec. 2024 But after infections with viruses like SARS-CoV-2, that messed up taste in your mouth can stick around for some time. —

Katie Camero, SELF, 27 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for mess up