View synonyms for snafu

snafu

[ sna-foo, snaf-oo ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

a badly confused or ridiculously muddled situation:
A ballot snafu in the election led to a recount.
Synonyms: foul-up, mess, confusion, disorder, bedlam, snarl, disarray
Antonyms: order, organization, calm
an error or miscalculation, especially one leading to a confused or muddled situation:
After some snafu deleted all my data files, I've finally managed to rebuild everything—I think!

Also sna·fued. in disorder; out of control; chaotic:
What you’re proposing is a snafu scheme that simply won't work.

, sna·fued, sna·fu·ing.

to throw into disorder; muddle:
Losing his passport snafued the whole vacation.
Synonyms: bungle, spoil, mess up

snafu

/ snæˈfuː /

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Origin of snafu¹

First recorded in 1940–45; s(ituation) n(ormal): a(ll) f(ucked) u(p); sometimes euphemistically construed as f(ouled) u(p)

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Origin of snafu¹

C20: from s ( ituation ) n ( ormal ): a ( ll ) f ( ucked or ouled ) u ( p )

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When he was first incarcerated, he says some sort of paperwork snafu had him imprisoned under two different, but similar, names.

It may either be a legal snafu or a general backlash that has led Lulu to make a major change to how the app operates.

He might be interested to know that Apple fired the manager responsible for the last major snafu the company encountered.

SNAFU—“situation normal: all f--ked up,” as soldiers used to say—was the default position for American policy.

The Grammys snafu, however, shows a certain lack of humility.

Everything was in apple-pie order, except for the snafu in Arzachel, Crag thought bitterly.

"We're not giving her a chance to snafu the works," Gotch said grimly.

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