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 + onShe's afraid she'll mess up on the test.
I messed up on my first attempt.
Examples of mess up in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
And now that kind of messes up their defensive rotation.
—
Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times, 20 Nov. 2024
Lastly, some of this knowledge was learned the hard way: By messing up in the field a few times and finally learning from those mistakes.
—Joe Arterburn, Outdoor Life, 14 Nov. 2024
Allen's wife responded, also noting that his medication might be messed up or the guards were messing with his mind.
—Ron Wilkins, The Indianapolis Star, 12 Nov. 2024
And there’s a lot of negative talk when somebody messes up.
—Parker Gabriel, The Denver Post, 13 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for mess up 
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Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times, 20 Nov. 2024
Lastly, some of this knowledge was learned the hard way: By messing up in the field a few times and finally learning from those mistakes.
—Joe Arterburn, Outdoor Life, 14 Nov. 2024
Allen's wife responded, also noting that his medication might be messed up or the guards were messing with his mind.
—Ron Wilkins, The Indianapolis Star, 12 Nov. 2024
And there’s a lot of negative talk when somebody messes up.
—Parker Gabriel, The Denver Post, 13 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for mess up
Dictionary Entries Near mess up
Cite this Entry
“Mess up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mess%20up. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.
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