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 adverb
messiness noun

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
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.
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 See All Example Sentences for messy

Word History

First Known Use

1627, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of messy was in 1627

Cite this Entry

“Messy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/messy. Accessed 17 Mar. 2025.

Kids Definition

messy

adjective
messier; messiest
1
: marked by confusion, disorder, or dirt : untidy
2
: extremely unpleasant or trying
messy lawsuits
messily adverb
messiness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on messy

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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