mess up

See also: mess-up

English

Pronunciation

Audio (AU) (file)

Verb

mess up (third-person singular simple present messes up, present participle messing up, simple past and past participle messed up)

(transitive) To make a mess of; to untidy, disorder, soil, or muss.
The afternoon breeze messed up my hair.
- 1962, S. Schoeman, Strike!: A Handbook of Angling in South African Coastal Waters, page 58:
  […] kwatumas, those aggressive and sharp-toothed eels that so thoroughly mess up one's tackle when hooked […]
(transitive) To cause a problem with; to introduce an error or mistake in; to make muddled or confused; spoil; ruin.
The change messed something up, and it's not working anymore.
(transitive) To botch, bungle; to perform poorly on.
Well, I messed up my solo, but otherwise it was a good concert.
(intransitive) To make a mistake; to do something incorrectly; to perform poorly.
He has a hard time getting started because he's afraid he'll mess up.

She messed up on her final exam.
(transitive) To cause (another person) to make unwanted mistakes in a given task, usually through distraction or obnoxious behavior.
Stop bumping me! You keep messing me up!
(transitive) To damage; injure.
He messed up his elbow at the track meet.
(transitive, slang) To manhandle; beat up; rough up.
Her brother's friends messed him up a little after he cheated on her.
(transitive, slang) To discombobulate, utterly confuse, or confound psychologically; to throw into a state of mental disarray.
That girl totally messed me up, man. I'm not sure who I am anymore.

Synonyms

(make a physical mess of): fuck up (vulgar), gum (verb: "gum up")
(cause an error or problem in): fuck up, jack up, louse up, screw up
(botch, bungle): gum (verb: "gum up"), foul up, fuck up, screw up
(intransitive: make a mistake, perform poorly): fuck up, screw up; see also Thesaurus:make a mistake
(cause (another) to make mistakes): screw up
(damage, injure): fuck up, jack up, screw up
(manhandle, rough up): fuck up
(discombobulate, throw into mental disarray): fuck up

Derived terms

mess-up (noun)
messup (noun)

Translations

to make a mess of

Dutch: klieder (nl), kliederen (nl)
Finnish: sotkea (fi), sekoittaa (fi), panna sekaisin (to disorder); sotkea (fi) (to soil)
French: gâcher (fr)
Galician: mexer, chafallar (gl)
Maori: whakapōrohe
Portuguese: desarrumar (pt), bagunçar (pt)
Slovak: rozhádzať
Spanish: desordenar (es), desarreglar (es), desbarajustar (es), echar a perder (es)
Swedish: stöka till (sv)
Tagalog: guluhin
Tok Pisin: bagarap, bagarapim

to cause an error or problem in

Esperanto: fuŝi (eo)
Finnish: sekoittaa (fi), rikkoa (fi), särkeä (fi)
French: foirer (fr) (pejorative)
Slovak: pokaziť, kaziť
Tagalog: guluhin
Tok Pisin: bagarap, bagarapim

transitive: to botch, bungle

Finnish: mokata (fi), sählätä (fi), möhliä (fi), tumpeloida
French: rater (fr), foirer (fr), bâcler (fr)
German: verpfuschen (de), vermurksen (de), verkorksen (de), verpatzen (de)
Hungarian: elront (hu), elszúr (hu)
Slovak: zbabrať, pokaziť, kaziť

to make a mistake; to do something incorrectly; to perform poorly

Finnish: epäonnistua (fi)
German: vermasseln (de)
Ido: kulpegar (io)
Russian: провалиться (ru) (provalitʹsja)
Slovak: zbabrať to, vybuchnúť

to cause to make unwanted mistakes

Finnish: häiritä (fi)

to damage; injure

Finnish: loukata (fi) (someone); vahingoittaa (fi) (something)
Russian: повредить (ru) (povreditʹ)
Slovak: rozbiť
Ukrainian: псувати (uk) (psuvaty)

to manhandle, beat up

Finnish: pahoinpidellä (fi), antaa turpaan
Slovak: dobiť

to throw into a state of mental disarray

Finnish: sekoittaa (fi), panna sekaisin
Russian: сбить с толку (ru) (sbitʹ s tolku)
Slovak: rozhádzať
Spanish: descolocar (es)

Anagrams

spumes

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