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

Recent Examples on the Web

These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Covering the agitator: Don't place anything on top of the agitator—doing so can get the agitator stuck mid-cycle and mess up your laundry. —

Rabekah Henderson, Southern Living, 1 Nov. 2024 Mike Williams Can Fill The Void For The Jets Before messing up and then being heavily criticized by Aaron Rodgers for his route-running mistake in their Week 6 loss to the Buffalo Bills, Williams was actually still part of the Jets offense. —

Jesse Reed, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024 This creates a helpless but highly effective kind of suspense, as Iris must rely on her tormentor to mess up, at least until her limbs start to respond again. —

Peter Debruge, Variety, 25 Oct. 2024 What happens when the agent starts messing up or cheating? —

Gillian Hadfield, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for mess up