as in to fumble
to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way
I swear, she mucks up everything she tries
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of muck up
By comparing the gene trees to the species trees, the researchers estimated rates of horizontal gene transfer, gene loss and other evolutionary processes that could muck up the picture.
—
Jonathan Lambert, Quanta Magazine, 20 Nov. 2024
Part of that journey was squaring Montoya’s goal of playing entertaining, attacking soccer with mucking up the game.
—Michael Nowels, The Mercury News, 13 Nov. 2024
Draymond Green, who has been terrific this season defensively, constantly mucked up the paint with rotations.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 6 Nov. 2024
This wouldn’t be the first time such a discrepancy mucks up the MCU.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Vulture, 26 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for muck up
Jonathan Lambert, Quanta Magazine, 20 Nov. 2024
Part of that journey was squaring Montoya’s goal of playing entertaining, attacking soccer with mucking up the game.
—Michael Nowels, The Mercury News, 13 Nov. 2024
Draymond Green, who has been terrific this season defensively, constantly mucked up the paint with rotations.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 6 Nov. 2024
This wouldn’t be the first time such a discrepancy mucks up the MCU.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Vulture, 26 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for muck up
Recent Examples of Synonyms for muck up
Verb
-
And Volodymyr Zelenskyy also fumbled the bag pretty hard.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
2 Mar. 2025
-
Arriving in England in 1929, Queenie fumbled around on the edges of the entertainment business, hoping to be an actor.—
Carolyn Kellogg,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Feb. 2025
Verb
-
However, buying everything new for your space can get costly and can easily blow your budget.—
Hallie Milstein,
Southern Living,
27 Feb. 2025
-
The Knicks blew a 19-point lead, and Philadelphia stormed back to take a 97-96 advantage with 3:59 left in the fourth quarter.—
Kristian Winfield,
New York Daily News,
27 Feb. 2025
Verb
-
The stalking may just have been a way to bide time and screw up the courage for a dinner invite, but after their meal, Burt’s Outie might not be wholly innocent or trustworthy.—
Proma Khosla,
IndieWire,
22 Feb. 2025
-
If one of the 11 messes up, the whole thing’s screwing up.—
Angelique Jackson,
Variety,
14 Feb. 2025
Verb
-
This brings back the Bilas comment from long ago on fouling up two.—
Joe Rexrode,
The Athletic,
24 Feb. 2025
-
In between those foul shots, the Jayhawks intentionally fouled up three.—
Shreyas Laddha,
Kansas City Star,
29 Jan. 2025
Verb
-
Sometimes, one bad person or a few bad people can ruin things for everybody.—
David Faris,
Newsweek,
27 Feb. 2025
-
However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.—
Don Sweeney,
Kansas City Star,
26 Feb. 2025
Verb
-
What’s the point of booting out illegals and criminals while somehow becoming a safe haven for the Tate brothers?—
Dan Perry,
Newsweek,
28 Feb. 2025
-
But touchbacks were still pretty prevalent as teams chose to boot the ball into the end zone and allow their opponents to start at the 30-yard line — as opposed to the 25, where touchbacks previously were spotted.—
Brad Biggs,
Chicago Tribune,
28 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Muck up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/muck%20up. Accessed 10 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share