mess up

What it means

To make a mistake, do something badly, or spoil a situation. It can also mean to make a place untidy. The tone is informal and very common in everyday English.

Examples

• I really messed up the interview by forgetting my employer's name.
• Don't mess up the kitchen right after I finished cleaning it.
• She apologised for messing up the schedule and offered to fix it.
• If you mess this up, we won't get another chance to apply.

Where it comes from

Separable: 'mess it up' is more natural than 'mess up it'. Informal but acceptable in most contexts except very formal writing, where 'make a mistake' or 'ruin' work better.

Related phrasal verbs