as in to fumble
to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way
I swear, she mucks up everything she tries
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of muck up
Part of that journey was squaring Montoya’s goal of playing entertaining, attacking soccer with mucking up the game.
—
Michael Nowels, The Mercury News, 13 Nov. 2024
Draymond Green, who has been terrific this season defensively, constantly mucked up the paint with rotations.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 6 Nov. 2024
This wouldn’t be the first time such a discrepancy mucks up the MCU.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Vulture, 26 July 2024
Stock market The stock market is off to its best start to a year since 1997 but a massive dockworkers strike underway in the US could muck up some of that progress, economists say.
—Alexandra Banner, CNN, 2 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for muck up 
Michael Nowels, The Mercury News, 13 Nov. 2024
Draymond Green, who has been terrific this season defensively, constantly mucked up the paint with rotations.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 6 Nov. 2024
This wouldn’t be the first time such a discrepancy mucks up the MCU.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Vulture, 26 July 2024
Stock market The stock market is off to its best start to a year since 1997 but a massive dockworkers strike underway in the US could muck up some of that progress, economists say.
—Alexandra Banner, CNN, 2 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for muck up
Recent Examples of Synonyms for muck up
Verb
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My manuscript was finally being read by editors, who responded with almost-wins — an overtime pass, fumbled.—
Tara Dorabji,
People.com,
16 Jan. 2025
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Gone are the days of fumbling with cords and adapters—this smart board simplifies connectivity to keep your focus on what matters most.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
15 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Credit them with winning 10 games although losing three of their last four and blowing a chance to win the ACC championship and get into the playoff put a huge damper on the season.—
Mike Bianchi,
Orlando Sentinel,
11 Jan. 2025
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The December jobs report showed the U.S. economy blowing past expectations to end the year.—
Sylvan Lane,
The Hill,
10 Jan. 2025
Verb
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When politicians screw up on a public stage, those blunders can be, at best, meme-ified and, at worst, career-ending.—
Paul Du Quenoy,
Newsweek,
31 Dec. 2024
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So messy was his operation that even the NCAA’s oafs couldn’t screw up that investigation.—
Blake Toppmeyer,
The Tennessean,
19 Dec. 2024
Verb
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For just one of 67 counties to use the wrong one could foul up an entire statewide count.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
6 Jan. 2024
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See the stunning shot... AIRLINE 'CHAOS' – A flight was canceled after someone fouled up the aircraft amid delays.—
Fox News Staff,
Fox News,
19 Oct. 2023
Verb
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Well, Neptune and his Wildcats might just be ruining the convenient narrative.—
CJ Moore,
The Athletic,
9 Jan. 2025
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However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.—
Don Sweeney,
Kansas City Star,
9 Jan. 2025
Verb
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But to boot out the hacker, the team has already reset the passwords for all admin accounts for the game.—
Michael Kan,
PCMAG,
13 Jan. 2025
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Realistically, though, few of us would go through the trouble of booting up a 27-year-old game just to blitz through it.—
Patricia Hernandez,
Rolling Stone,
10 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near muck up
Cite this Entry
“Muck up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/muck%20up. Accessed 23 Jan. 2025.
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