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
What happens when the agent starts messing up or cheating?
—
Gillian Hadfield, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2024
But both have important jobs to do heading into the final stretch of the campaign: Make the case for why Trump and Harris should be president, and don’t mess up along the way.
—Sam Woodward, USA TODAY, 3 Oct. 2024
Yet another has Richardson threatening to mess up Chazmo's spaceship.
—Julie Hinds, Detroit Free Press, 3 Oct. 2024
The most migration traffic is usually 2 to 4 hours after sunset.
Between the lines: Hurricane Francine messed up migration for several birds.
—Carlie Kollath Wells, Axios, 27 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for mess up 
Gillian Hadfield, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2024
But both have important jobs to do heading into the final stretch of the campaign: Make the case for why Trump and Harris should be president, and don’t mess up along the way.
—Sam Woodward, USA TODAY, 3 Oct. 2024
Yet another has Richardson threatening to mess up Chazmo's spaceship.
—Julie Hinds, Detroit Free Press, 3 Oct. 2024
The most migration traffic is usually 2 to 4 hours after sunset.
Between the lines: Hurricane Francine messed up migration for several birds.
—Carlie Kollath Wells, Axios, 27 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for mess up
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mess up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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 28 Oct. 2024.
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