SCREWING UP Synonyms: 81 Similar and Opposite Words

screwing up

verb

present participle of screw up

as in fumbling

to make a mistake we all screw up from time to time, so don't sweat it

Synonyms & Similar Words

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as in blowing

to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way you've totally screwed up the spreadsheet

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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 screwing up So not screwing up Spider-Man is about putting a beating heart at the center rather than a bunch of spectacle. — Chris Lee, Vulture, 3 Aug. 2026 The fear of failure can do as much harm as actually screwing up. — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 30 July 2026 Myers nails the realistic teen who is a far cry from the unflappable Nancy Drew, screwing up plenty and often terrified of what she's gotten herself into. — Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 22 May 2026 First of all, don’t hide misdeeds and screwups, which comes naturally by not committing misdeeds and not screwing up. — Eleanor Dearman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 May 2026 These days, revivals that just manage to come and go without screwing up are seen as, if not a success, than an acceptable effort. — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 10 Apr. 2026 Right now, Iranians are blaming, appropriately, the regime for screwing up the country. — CBS News, 11 Jan. 2026 Tim overcame his fear of screwing up again and asked Lucy to move in. — Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 6 Jan. 2026 After screwing up his job interview, Anders tries to see his sister, who’s been burned by him one too many times and sends her girlfriend to run interference. — Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for screwing 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

Verb

Arsenal are firmly in title-chasing mode and goal difference could still prove crucial, despite Manchester City slipping up against Everton on Monday.

— Abdul Rehman, New York Times, 7 May 2026
But knowing Olson’s proclivity for slipping up in hysterical fashion made the match that much more appealing.

— Ben Travers, IndieWire, 7 May 2026

Definition of slipping up

Verb

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

Definition of mucking up

Verb

Unlike other festivals, where audiences can be more forgiving, stumbling out of the gate at Venice can prove impossible for a contender to recover from.

— Nate Jones, Vulture, 2 Sep. 2026
Analysis from Zeki Data shows that where OpenAI and Anthropic are making gains in the AI talent market, Google DeepMind (and to some extent Meta) are stumbling.

— Andrew Nusca, Fortune, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of stumbling

Verb

The nearly two-minute spot depicts a club-wielding bureaucrat chasing and tripping a child on a bike and another stealing a boy’s scooter.

— Ben Paviour, Sacbee.com, 27 Aug. 2026
The boy was outside by himself for a total of nine minutes and had fallen into the pool after tripping over an inflatable chair, the report added.

— Jose R. Gonzalez, AZCentral.com, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of tripping

Browse Nearby Words

screwing around

screwing up

screwlike

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Cite this Entry

Style

“Screwing up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/screwing%20up. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of screwing up

verb

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