English Lexicon

Muck-up

/ˈmʌkˌʌp/
nounverbCEFR B2 (Upper)Top #8500 frequency
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Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    A complete mess, blunder, or mismanagement of a situation.

    "The scheduling muck-up resulted in half the team missing the important client presentation."
As verb
  1. 1

    To spoil, ruin, or handle something incompetently.

    "Be careful not to muck up the final calculations or the entire report will be wrong."

Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Synonyms (3)
Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Derived from the phrasal verb 'muck up', combining the noun 'muck' (dirt, manure) dating from Middle English and the directional particle 'up'. Originally used in British and Commonwealth slang during the early 20th century to describe making something dirty or messy, it subsequently shifted in meaning to denote making a severe mistake or ruining a situation.

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