screw up

verb

1. to twist out of shape or distort

2. to summon up or call upon

   to screw up one's courage

3. informal,  (also intr) to mishandle or make a mess (of)

4. informal,  (often passive) to cause to become very anxious, confused, or nervous

   he is really screwed up about his exams

noun

1. slang,  something mishandled or done badly

Idioms and Phrases

Muster or summon up; see pluck up one's courage .

Make a mess of an undertaking; also, make a mistake, as in I really screwed up this report , or She said she was sorry, admitting that she had screwed up . Some authorities believe this usage is a euphemism for fuck up . [ Slang ; c. 1940]

Injure, damage, as in I screwed up my back lifting all those heavy books . [ Slang ]

Make neurotic or anxious, as in Her family really screwed her up, but her therapist has helped her a lot . [ Slang ; mid-1900s]

Example Sentences

Folding clothes is an repetitive task that doesn’t depend on sensory feedback, and if the robot screws up the process, no one is likely to be injured or killed.

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Or maybe our stubborn myopia is what this Superman means when he says, “I screw up all the time but that is being human.”

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Forget throwing soup on the “Mona Lisa” — the Bezos wedding protesters might do something truly offensive: They are threatening to screw up traffic on the big day.

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Newsom became the face of this error, because he can't help but screw up with the same drama he brings to everything else.

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Mary already has the foundational skills for library work when she barks at Derrick not to screw up the “order” of her designer denim on a rack, she just doesn’t know it yet.

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Related Words

• botch 
• bungle 
• confuse 
• flub 
• muddle 
• spoil