messy

adjective

ˈme-sē 

messier; messiest

1

: marked by confusion, disorder, or dirt : untidy

a messy room

2

: lacking neatness or precision : careless, slovenly

messy thinking

3

: extremely unpleasant or trying

messy lawsuits

a messy divorce

messily

ˈme-sə-lē 

adverb

messiness

ˈme-sē-nəs 

noun

Synonyms

• chaotic
• cluttered
• confused
• disarranged
• disarrayed
• disheveled
• dishevelled
• disordered
• disorderly
• higgledy-piggledy
• hugger-mugger
• jumbled
• littered
• messed
• muddled
• mussed
• mussy
• pell-mell
• rumpled
• sloppy
• topsy-turvy
• tousled
• tumbled
• unkempt
• untidy
• upside-down

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

In recent weeks, there has been a lot of uncertainty about which star could win the women’s Elimination Chamber, but even with some messy booking muddying the women’s division, one outcome in Toronto makes the most sense. —Blake Oestriecher, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2025

Cotton: She’s owned the fact that some of her gameplay was quite messy. —Emily Longeretta, Variety, 27 Feb. 2025

Fox wore her blond tresses in a messy updo, courtesy of hairdresser John Novotny, while her makeup consisted of gray eye shadow, pink blush and a nude lip. —Hannah Malach, WWD, 27 Feb. 2025

Isla delivers much of this information in the pilot via a sunny voiceover, punctuated by freeze-frame introductions of characters featuring their name and job title scrawled on the screen in meticulously messy yellow text. —EW.com, 27 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1627, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for messy

• bessy
• cressy
• dressy
• jesse

Kids Definition

messy

adjective

ˈmes-ē 

messier; messiest

1

: marked by confusion, disorder, or dirt : untidy

2

: extremely unpleasant or trying

messy lawsuits

messily

ˈmes-ə-lē 

adverb

messiness

ˈmes-ē-nəs 

noun