How to Use messy in a Sentence

messy

adjective
  • Painting a room can be messy work.
  • Some kinds of glue are messier than others.
  • Both were also messy from the birria juices in the tacos.
    — Carlos Rico, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Apr. 2024
  • Worn with the wrong pieces, the look can seem messy or ill-defined.
    — René Chávez Esparza, Glamour, 17 June 2025
  • Her hair was pulled into a messy bun on the top of her head.
    — Catherine Santino, Peoplemag, 11 June 2024
  • All right, that brings us to the veto and the eviction, and folks, things get messy.
    — Kyle Fowle, EW.com, 24 Sep. 2021
  • Balloons emerged as a new and messy weapon of war this year.
    — Stella Kim, NBC News, 24 July 2024
  • Her hair is in a messy wavy style, and her skin is glowing.
    — Rosa Sanchez, Harper's BAZAAR, 29 Aug. 2023
  • The quickest route to mealtime stress has to be a messy pantry.
    — Patricia Shannon, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 Apr. 2025
  • Worse, a messy space can add stress to your daily life.
    — Caitlin Sole, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 Aug. 2023
  • The trail from the bay leading to the preserve’s entrance is rough, rocky and messy.
    — Milena Malaver, Miami Herald, 16 Feb. 2025
  • The Red Raiders’ defense Adams fine-tuned makes things messy.
    — Bryce Miller Columnist, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Mar. 2022
  • This is a very, this hairstyle can be very, very messy.
    — Gabi Thorne, Allure, 4 Aug. 2021
  • The dips are wet, messy behemoths of meat, juice and bread.
    — Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 12 May 2025
  • There’s no reason to put boots on the ground, because on the ground, things get messy.
    — Craig Michel, CNN, 9 Mar. 2023
  • What followed was a whole bunch of messy bickering in the press.
    — Charlotte Walsh, Vulture, 14 Mar. 2024
  • Cotton: She’s owned the fact that some of her gameplay was quite messy.
    — Emily Longeretta, Variety, 27 Feb. 2025
  • The messy end to two decades of the US mission in Afghanistan raises so many questions.
    — Zachary B. Wolf, CNN, 30 Aug. 2021
  • Things get messy and deadly from there, as hordes of the undead descend on the land.
    — Megan Vick, EW.com, 30 May 2024
  • The reason is simple: Even the best humans are a bit messy.
    — Agur Jõgi, Forbes, 22 June 2022
  • The show acknowledges our lives can be/will be/are messy.
    — CNN, 25 Oct. 2021
  • Kim’s hair was pulled back into a low messy bun, with a few strands of hair to frame her face.
    — Julia Teti, WWD, 28 Jan. 2025
  • Her blonde hair was worn in a messy updo with her bangs sweeping the side of her face.
    — Lori A Bashian Fox News, Fox News, 23 Nov. 2024
  • If only the rest of this messy midnight-movie mass was worthy of it.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 20 Mar. 2024
  • Go ahead, get a head start on your spring cleaning with what is often the messiest space in the home: the kitchen.
    — Jessica Cherner, House Beautiful, 28 Apr. 2023
  • Evelin is messy, but Corey doesn’t have any sort of spine, and it’s a frustrating mix.
    — Ashley Ray-Harris, Vulture, 27 Sep. 2021
  • Looks very messy for the mid-South with several hours of freezing rain and sleet across the area.
    — Jennifer Gray, CNN, 1 Feb. 2022
  • That proved to be messy even for a town with mounds of burro poop adorning Main Street.
    — Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 29 Dec. 2021
  • Jess and Felix, by contrast, are real, funny, messy, horny, flawed people.
    — Judy Berman, Time, 10 July 2025
  • Not because that is anybody’s intention but because our little, squalling selves are born to messy people.
    — The New Yorker, New Yorker, 9 July 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'messy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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