messing up
Getting it wrong
Messing up is making mistakes or doing something poorly.
You can mess up a task, a relationship, or your own life: I really messed up by forgetting her birthday.
The phrase also describes causing disorder: Don't mess up your room.
To mess someone up is to injure or psychologically damage them: That accident messed him up pretty bad.
- screwing upFailing through carelessness
- dropping the ballFailing at a crucial moment
- flubClumsy error
- snafuConfused, botched situation
- bunglingMishandling through incompetence
blunder · error · mishandle · botch · foul-up · ruining · gaffe · mistake · falling flat · mismanage · faux pas · miscalculation · muck-up · tangling · confusion · muddle · mishap · oops
- muddlingmuddling, jumbling, scrambling, mixing up, disarranging
- gracelessnessclumsiness, awkwardness, boorishness, rudeness, vulgarity
messing upsucceeding
Attaining aims or following
getting it right · nailing it · acing · doing well · crushing it
messing uptidying up
organizing · cleaning up · putting in order · sorting out · arranging
messing upfixing
Restoring proper function
improving · helping · making better · repairing · correcting
mess, message, messy, messenger, messiness, messing, messaging, mess-up, mess up