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

Orlando took the helm of the memorial effort in late 2023 amid the messy collapse of the private onePulse foundation. —Stephen Hudak, Orlando Sentinel, 13 Mar. 2025

Data preparation tasks—from cleaning messy data to integrating disparate sources—consume a lot of time and effort for data teams. —Suri Nuthalapati, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2025

Haack is going through a messy divorce with her soon-to-be ex-husband Hall, with the pair calling each other out on Instagram in 2024. —Faisal Kutty, Newsweek, 12 Mar. 2025

Ever since, Kim and Kroy have gone back and forth, making accusations against one another in the messy proceedings. —Liza Esquibias, People.com, 12 Mar. 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