messier; messiest
1
: marked by confusion, disorder, or dirt : untidy
a messy room
3
: extremely unpleasant or trying
messy lawsuits
a messy divorce
Synonyms
Examples of messy in a Sentence
Painting a room can be messy work.
Some kinds of glue are messier than others.
a delicious but messy sandwich
Recent Examples on the Web
The streaming market is a messy smorgasbord for many consumers and some type of bundling might be a welcome relief for many.
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Howard Homonoff, Forbes, 18 Sep. 2024
Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter, a new book out today from New York Times tech reporters Kate Conger and Ryan Mac, takes readers behind the scenes of the unusual acquisition and its messy consequences.
—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 17 Sep. 2024
But even those who are publicly dismissed for blatant demonstrations of hatred are often resilient in today’s messy information ecosystem.
—Ali Breland, The Atlantic, 17 Sep. 2024
The problem with that scenario: fulfilling more orders for these items – particularly those with lower price points – has impacted topline growth and squeezed profits, as Amazon’s messy second-quarter earnings last month showed.
—Paulina Likos, CNBC, 16 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for messy 
Howard Homonoff, Forbes, 18 Sep. 2024
Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter, a new book out today from New York Times tech reporters Kate Conger and Ryan Mac, takes readers behind the scenes of the unusual acquisition and its messy consequences.
—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 17 Sep. 2024
But even those who are publicly dismissed for blatant demonstrations of hatred are often resilient in today’s messy information ecosystem.
—Ali Breland, The Atlantic, 17 Sep. 2024
The problem with that scenario: fulfilling more orders for these items – particularly those with lower price points – has impacted topline growth and squeezed profits, as Amazon’s messy second-quarter earnings last month showed.
—Paulina Likos, CNBC, 16 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for messy
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'messy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Messy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/messy. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
messy
adjective
messier; messiest
1
: marked by confusion, disorder, or dirt : untidy
2
: extremely unpleasant or trying
messy lawsuits
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