MUCKING UP Synonyms: 61 Similar and Opposite Words

mucking up

verb

present participle of muck up

as in fumbling

to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way I swear, she mucks up everything she tries

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of mucking up But life has a way of mucking up even the best plans, sometimes all at once and sometimes bit by bit and usually a little of both. — Brian Grubb, Vulture, 10 Aug. 2026 Amid the memory shortage that's mucking up component prices globally, at least Qualcomm has some promising news for folks hoping to pay less for a daily driver. — Florence Ion, PC Magazine, 7 May 2026 At least not Will Welch, GQ’s longstanding editor-in-chief and global editorial director, who was absolutely zen about the threat of an atmospheric river mucking up the mag’s Men of the Year celebration last night. — Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 14 Nov. 2025 What's mucking up the process is a telepathic outlier named The Mule (Pilou Asbæk), whose ravenous appetite for galactic dominance has created anomalies in Seldon's branching prognostications of how this whole ordeal will unfold. — Jeff Spry, Space.com, 29 Aug. 2025 The hydrogen flow keeps vaporized tin from mucking up the system’s optics. — IEEE Spectrum, 12 June 2023

Recent Examples of Synonyms for mucking up

Verb

The Packers’ offense left the field, but came back after it was ruled that Watson was down before fumbling.

— Rob Reischel, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2026
Here was his senior running back, who scored a 44-yard touchdown in their state championship win months earlier, fumbling on the very first play of the Blue-White scrimmage.

— Kevin Fishbain, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of fumbling

Verb

The National Weather Service called for blowing dust early Friday evening and a 20% chance of rain on Sunday for nearby Gerlach, Nevada, a community of 58 people about 100 miles north of Reno.

— Dennis Romero, NBC news, 5 Sep. 2026
Stanford won 37-27, but this was after blowing a 16-point lead.

— David Troy OutKick, FOXNews.com, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of blowing

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mucking (out)

mucking up

muck (out)

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“Mucking up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mucking%20up. Accessed 6 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of mucking up

verb

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