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

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.

And there’s a lot of negative talk when somebody messes up. —

Parker Gabriel, The Denver Post, 13 Nov. 2024 The festival calendar is messed up because there is a high season and a very low season. —

Zac Ntim, Deadline, 3 Nov. 2024 Simone keeps messing up; Gigi‘s fewer faults lie, nominally, in her brusque lack of manners, though those of us in the audience are likely to find that charming. —

Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 28 Oct. 2024 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 See all Example Sentences for mess up