screwing 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.

See Examples For:

screwing up

Overall, the costs of screwing up can greatly exceed the benefits of getting it right.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026

The Mist seems to be screwing up everything these days.

From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026

The fear of failure can do as much harm as actually screwing up.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026

“The idea was just to say, while doing all this, they’re sort of screwing up stuff for those guys, but ultimately it’s going to become iconic,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

I kept screwing up the orders at work.

From "Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe" by Benjamin Alire Saenz

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