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Definitions

screw up

VERB
make a mess of
Synonyms
STRONGEST
botch bungle confuse flub muddle spoil
WEAK
blow bobble bollix foul up goof goof up louse make hash of mess mess up mishandle mismanage muck up muff snafu
Antonyms
STRONGEST
clear up do well enlighten explain order organize succeed

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“I really don’t want to screw up the lineup,” Woods added.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026

As is well-known, AI can screw up even the simplest facts, or just hallucinate and invent details, so it pays to check everything.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 24, 2026

In other words: “We screwed up, but we can screw up better.”

From MarketWatch • Oct. 27, 2025

Chairman Andrew Cavenagh insists Rangers did not "screw up" the process to appoint head coach Danny Rohl but admits it looked "clunky" from the outside.

From BBC • Oct. 22, 2025

“The sound. You need to get a consistent sound, like slow or fast, funny or sad. All these digressions, they just screw up your story’s sound. Stick to what happened.”

From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien

From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.